Wing and a prayer - capercaillie on the brink

Hopes of saving the capercaillie have been dealt a fresh blow after latest figures reveal the iconic bird could vanish from Scotland for a second time.

Wet springs in 2007 and 2008 have been blamed for harming their breeding chances, while loss of habitat and deaths from both predators and from flying into fences have all contributed to keeping numbers low.

The most recent survey, carried out over the 2009-10 winter by RSPB Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), has estimated a population of 1,228, with three-quarters confined to the birds' stronghold in Badenoch and Strathspey.

The original native Scottish capercaillie population is thought to have been wiped out in about 1785. It was then reintroduced from Swedish stock from 1837.

The population was estimated to be about 20,000 in 1970, but numbers had declined sharply by the early 1990s.

According to the last census, conducted in 2004, there were an estimated 1,980 birds remaining in Scotland. This compared with an estimate of just 1,073 birds in 1988-9, which triggered targeted conservation action for the species.

Research published last month showed that poor breeding success was also associated with high numbers of foxes, carrion crows and pine martens, which can prey on eggs, chicks, and even full-grown birds.

Conservationists and land managers have undertaken intensive work aimed at halting and reversing the declines under the Species Action Framework (SAF) and the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP).

Efforts have focused on creating or improving the native pine forest and blaeberry habitat, legal predator control and minimising disturbance from people and dogs in sensitive areas.

Deer fences at key capercaillie sites have also been removed or marked to make them more visible.

Stuart Housden, director of RSPB Scotland, said: "It is disappointing that the capercaillie has experienced a drop in its numbers in some areas since the last survey was conducted.

"However, there can be little doubt that this decline would be a good deal worse were it not for all the huge efforts of many public and private forestry managers, gamekeepers and land managers backed by the European LIFE funding programme, to save this charismatic species."

He said particular effort was needed to create further habitat in other key areas, such as Deeside and Perthshire, where the problems are most acute.

Dr Sue Haysom of SNH said through the capercaillie SAF, seven miles of deer fencing had been removed or marked so far. This adds to 136 miles dealt with through the Forestry Commission Challenge Fund and 25 miles through the EU-Life Nature Project.

Dr Haysom said: "The low breeding success and wet summers of 2007 and 2008 may have counterbalanced some of the benefits of this work, but a few good summers like the one we saw in 2010 and continued conservation action could well turn things around for this amazing bird."