Conservationists have warned that one of Scotland's largest and most iconic birds, the capercaillie, is in a perilous state after a new survey found its population is shrinking.
The study has found that the capercaillie, the largest and heaviest member of the grouse family, is struggling to survive in many areas of the Highlands and its numbers are still worryingly low.
In some parts of Scotland, around Loch Lomond and Glen Affric in the west, the capercaillie has now effectively disappeared thanks to a combination of habitat loss, forestry fencing and unsuitable climate. Its population is dramatically thinning out in Perthshire to the south and Deeside, Moray and Nairn to the east.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) estimate that over the winter of 2009-10 there were only 1228 individual birds remaining, down from an estimated (but unconfirmed) peak of up to 20,000 in the early 1970s.
Its core territory has shrunk dramatically, with about 75% of the entire UK capercaillie population now living in a small but carefully-managed area of the Cairngorms around Badenoch and Strathspey.
The capercaillie is one of the UK's most distinctive birds, boasting a large fan-like tail and a throaty call. A member of the grouse family, adult males are roughly the size of a turkey and, unlike the bullet-like speed of its smaller cousin the red grouse, it has a slower, more ungainly style of flight.
It is also notoriously reclusive, sheltering in native pinewood forests of the Highlands and venturing out to court, at large "leks", or groups, in sheltered areas of the forest, only at dawn.
As a result, the SNH surveyors were unable to do an accurate headcount, so conservationists are cautious about warning that its population is in sharp decline. The last survey, in 2004, puts its population at an estimated 1,980 birds. Yet the most worrying survey, in 1988-89, suggested there were just 1,073, triggering a concerted conservation campaign funded with £5m by the European Union.
Pete Mayhew, of RSPB Scotland, said the study suggested the major concern was about the erosion of the birds' most favoured habitat. Its shrinking range meant it was even more vulnerable.
"We know we can manage a population in a fairly robust state if we get the management right," he said. "But if you get it wrong, the population can be in a much more perilous state and even disappear."
The study has found that the capercaillie, the largest and heaviest member of the grouse family, is struggling to survive in many areas of the Highlands and its numbers are still worryingly low.
In some parts of Scotland, around Loch Lomond and Glen Affric in the west, the capercaillie has now effectively disappeared thanks to a combination of habitat loss, forestry fencing and unsuitable climate. Its population is dramatically thinning out in Perthshire to the south and Deeside, Moray and Nairn to the east.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) estimate that over the winter of 2009-10 there were only 1228 individual birds remaining, down from an estimated (but unconfirmed) peak of up to 20,000 in the early 1970s.
Its core territory has shrunk dramatically, with about 75% of the entire UK capercaillie population now living in a small but carefully-managed area of the Cairngorms around Badenoch and Strathspey.
The capercaillie is one of the UK's most distinctive birds, boasting a large fan-like tail and a throaty call. A member of the grouse family, adult males are roughly the size of a turkey and, unlike the bullet-like speed of its smaller cousin the red grouse, it has a slower, more ungainly style of flight.
It is also notoriously reclusive, sheltering in native pinewood forests of the Highlands and venturing out to court, at large "leks", or groups, in sheltered areas of the forest, only at dawn.
As a result, the SNH surveyors were unable to do an accurate headcount, so conservationists are cautious about warning that its population is in sharp decline. The last survey, in 2004, puts its population at an estimated 1,980 birds. Yet the most worrying survey, in 1988-89, suggested there were just 1,073, triggering a concerted conservation campaign funded with £5m by the European Union.
Pete Mayhew, of RSPB Scotland, said the study suggested the major concern was about the erosion of the birds' most favoured habitat. Its shrinking range meant it was even more vulnerable.
"We know we can manage a population in a fairly robust state if we get the management right," he said. "But if you get it wrong, the population can be in a much more perilous state and even disappear."
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