a comprehensive resource of avian nutrition research for captive bird populations

Western Capercaillie

Tetrao urogallus

Galliformes - Phasianidae - Pheasants

Western Capercaillie - Capercaillie

© L Peat

Western Capercaillie - Capercaillie

Wild diet: Winter diet - mainly pine needles, holly leaves & birch buds, buds of blueberry/bilberry. Summer diet - needles, leaves, stems & berries of a variety of plants; juniper, blueberry, whortleberry, crowberry, cloudberry, cow-wheat, sedges & mosses. Insects are also taken.

Wild weight ranges: Male 3.9 - 4.3kg. Female 1.7 - 2kg

References

Wild data

Capercaillie broods in pristine boreal forest in northwestern Russia: the importance of insects and cover in habitat selection >

Capercaillie habitat, diet and management in a Sitka spruce plantation in central Scotland >

Del Hoya, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. eds. (1994). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol 2. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Diet and habitat selection in Cantabrian Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus): ecological differentiation of a rear-edge population >

Energy reserves of the capercaillie Tetrao urogallus in finland >

Responses by the capercaillie Tetrao urogallus, and the willow grouse Lagopus lagopus, to the green matter available in early spring >

Selection of feeding trees by capercaillie Tetrao urogallus in winter >

The role of energy and resin contents in the selective feeding of pine needles by the capercaillie. Harto Linden >

Captive data information

Examples of diets in use

There are no diets in use yet for the Western Capercaillie.


Please keep us up-to-date and contact us with your own updates or new diets used for the Western Capercaillie.

References

Family specific diet studies / intake studies

Investigations on the Antibacterial Effect of Conifer Needle Oils on Bacteria Isolated from the Feces of Captive Capercaillies (Tetrao urogallus L., 1758) >

Needles of Pinus sylvestris and P. contorta as food for captive capercaillies (Tetrao urogallus): Preference tests and analyses of needle chemistry >

Nutritional and genetic adaptation of galliform birds: implications for hand-rearing and restocking >

The bacterial microbiota in the ceca of Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) differs between wild and captive birds >

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