Natural England Technical Information Note TIN087

Illustrated guide to black

grouse
Black Grouse are birds of the moorland edge. In the past their numbers declined
drastically due to a range of factors. However, in recent years good habitat
management has significantly increased black grouse numbers where it has been
practiced. To benefit grouse this sympathetic habitat management needs be on a
landscape scale rather than associated with any one particular habitat.

Notes
Males display at dawn at traditional sites known
as leks. Leks are most active in the spring
when the females visit to mate.
Most leks have fewer than 10 males, but a few
have 20 or more. Male birds generally stay close
to the lek throughout the year and females breed
within a kilometre or so.
Young females are highly mobile and can travel
up to 30 km in search of new lekking groups.
These movements mean that lekking groups
need to be connected. In good continuous
habitats leks are about 2 km apart

Black grouse lek

Adult black grouse eat a wide variety of food

including the leaves, flowers and seed heads of
grasses and herbs, in particular cotton-grasses.
In the autumn and winter they feed on the
berries and buds of trees, shrubs and heather.
Food is found in a variety of habitats including
heath, blanket bog, mire, unimproved/rough
grassland, scrub and woodland.

Displaying male

First edition 12 November 2010

www.naturalengland.org.uk

Natural England Technical Information Note TIN087

Illustrated guide to black grouse

Ideal habitat

Ideal extensively managed habitat mosaic suitable for black grouse

The ideal habitat for black grouse is an

extensively managed habitat mosaic of 200 ha
or more with heath, blanket bog, rough grazing,
shrubs and trees.

The young hatch together and leave the nest as

soon as they are dry. The hen will only have one
brood a year and the family will stay together
until well into the autumn. The male takes no
part in rearing the young.

Small areas of woodland, trees and scrub with

shrubs and small trees such as birch, willow and
rowan provide food as well as cover.

Ideal sward structure for brood-rearing

Female black grouse

Good nest sites are located in thick, shrubby

ground cover, close to tall grasses, rushes and
heathland shrubs. The nest is a shallow scrape
on the ground in the shelter of tall vegetation or
low scrub. It is lined with grasses and moss.

Chicks forage in open ground among grasses

and heathland shrubs. Good brood rearing
habitats have abundant invertebrates, notably
sawfly larvae.

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Natural England Technical Information Note TIN087

Illustrated guide to black grouse

Avoid

Intensively managed habitats have few opportunities for black grouse

Avoid grazing heath and grassland too short as

this will reduce the numbers of insects that are
vital chick food.
Intensive farming and forestry tends to reduce
the overall habitat mosaic of the landscape.
Blocks of trees and forests with sharp edges
between the forest and the adjacent land use is

Further information
Natural England Technical Information Notes are
available to download from the Natural England
website at www.naturalengland.org.uk

not only unsightly but also provides little

opportunities for black grouse.
If woodland fencing is required, use markers to
make the fence visible to the black grouse. If the
birds cant see it they are in danger of flying into
it and this can be fatal.

The outcomes shown may not be appropriate or

suitable for all sites. Please consult scheme
handbooks or your Natural England adviser for
further information.

For enquiries please contact the Natural

England Helpline on 0300 060 0863 or email
enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk

This note was originally published by RDS as

illustrated guidance note ESG0012. Illustrations
by Jackie Hunt and Dan Powell. Editor Susie
Smith.

This guidance has been developed to support

Environmental Stewardship agreements. It does
not replace an agreement and you must
continue to follow the prescriptions and
specifications.

You may reproduce as many individual copies of

this note as you like, provided such copies
stipulate that copyright remains with Natural
England, 1 East Parade, Sheffield, S1 2ET.
Natural England 2010

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