Capercaillie on brink of extinction again as male numbers drop by almost 10 per cent

Capercaillie could become extinct in Scotland once again after gamekeepers warned this year saw an almost ten per cent drop in male birds at lek sites - breeding grounds for the species.

The capercaillie is a ground-nesting bird that, with just over 500 left in the wild, is in danger of extinction in the UK. One contributor to its decline is the eating of eggs and chicks by predators including another protected species, the pine marten.

Only 153 male birds were recorded at leks in key forests this year, 15 less than this time last year, according to research from the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA).

The capercaillie is again facing extinction. (Jude Dinham-Price)

The SGA said should this continue, it would result in an estimated further decline of 43 per cent in capercaillie numbers by the time the next national survey is undertaken in 2027/28, on top of a 50 per cent decline in the previous one.

A new emergency action plan for the species is due to be published shortly by Scottish Government’s nature advisers, NatureScot, and the Cairngorms National Park.

But some wildlife campaigners have said the plan does not adequately address the problem of increasing pressure on eggs and chicks from common and protected predators.

A capercaillie hen (pic: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The SGA, which represents gamekeepers across the country, said for decades, deer stalkers and gamekeepers have sat with scientists, conservationists, forestry and national park officials on the capercaillie taskforce, looking at ways to stem declines.

Despite warning at the outset that failure to ease predation pressure would spell disaster, the SGA said their members’ views have been treated as peripheral within the Scottish Capercaillie Group.

A spokesperson for SGA said: “We said, 20 years ago, that capercaillie would become extinct in our lifetime. We were told, then, we had no evidence and that what we were saying was anecdotal.”

The group regularly references the 2022 report by the Scientific Advisory Group (SAC) of NatureScot to Scottish Ministers which said a reduction in predators would “rapidly improve” breeding success.

It also pointed to methods such as diversionary feeding to protect the birds.

Since then, former Scottish Greens Minister Lorna Slater, requested that investment in habitat restoration should continue, to help capercaillie. 

The SGA said the move raised concern that not all the recommendations from the SAC report will be followed.

The group said instead of controlling foxes and crows, many land managers within the Scottish capercaillie range have been encouraged to choose the less tested option of diversionary feeding predators.

Earlier this year, a Cairngorms research partnership saw an 83 per cent increase in nest survival during a trial in which they used artificial nests filled with chicken’s eggs, and leaving deer meat in strategic locations to feed hungry predators and discourage them from further foraging during the breeding season. SGA said while research on artificial nests suggested diversionary feeding has the potential to be successful, there has been no recovery in capercaillie numbers as a result- and now a further loss of lekking males has been reported.

“When working in these forests every day, we have been involved with populations of capercaillie all of our lives. We’ve witnessed this dramatic decline with our own eyes and feel compelled to inform the public of the current situation,” an SGA member said.

“Sadly, everything we said in the past has been borne out in the recent counts. The numbers don’t lie.  

“The last chance, therefore, is for the public to know the facts, with no spin.

“Maybe it is only through the public knowing what is happening, and asking questions, that we can save the capercaillie. That is all we want; that people know the truth.

“By making a plea to the public, maybe a bigger discussion outside of Capercaillie circles can begin, and we can get to the solutions the bird needs to remain here.”