Tetrastes bonasia
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Mass
~430 g
Habitat
Woodlands and parks
Diet
Plants and grasses
How to recognize it
The hazel grouse is a quiet woodland regular, easier to notice for its shy manner than for looks. It seems small and compact, stays low for much of the time, and when disturbed it slips into the branches and freezes there.
Its voice is a thin, high whistle, so you often hear it before you see it. When alarmed, it bursts away with a noisy flush, flies only a short distance, and then tries to disappear again.
It favors dense mixed woods with spruce, especially damp places with streams, gullies, and broken ground, and avoids open edges and sparse plantations. It feeds on the ground and in trees, taking berries, seeds, insects, buds, catkins, and tender shoots, and remains in the same area through the year.
Quick Facts
The hazel grouse is a quiet woodland regular, easier to notice for its shy manner than for looks. It seems small and compact, stays low for much of the time, and when disturbed it slips into the branches and freezes there.
Its voice is a thin, high whistle, so you often hear it before you see it. When alarmed, it bursts away with a noisy flush, flies only a short distance, and then tries to disappear again.
It favors dense mixed woods with spruce, especially damp places with streams, gullies, and broken ground, and avoids open edges and sparse plantations. It feeds on the ground and in trees, taking berries, seeds, insects, buds, catkins, and tender shoots, and remains in the same area through the year.
