Capercaillie carnage as birds killed f lying into deer fences
IT IS one of Scotland’s most iconic but elusive birds, attracting thousands of twitchers every year hoping to catch a glimpse.
But experts have warned the capercaillie is an increasingly rare sight – partly due to their habit of killing themselves by flying into deer fences.
Official figures show there are only 1,114 birds in Scotland, down more than 13 per cent from 1,285 in the previous survey seven years ago, which equates to almost one in seven birds dying out.
The capercaillie, whose Gaelic name means ‘horse of the woods’, was reintroduced to Scotland in 1837 after becoming extinct in the 1700s.
By 1970, there were 20,000 – but now the largest member of the grouse family is on the ‘red list’ of species of highest conservation concern.
The capercaillie population is assessed every six years by RSPB Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), with the most recent survey conducted during the winter of 2015-16.
The results were the second lowest on record. The population is only half the size it was in 1993, when the first survey estimated there were 2,200 birds.
Experts attribute the decline to low levels of breeding success and an increase in deaths from collisions with deer fences.
Around 83 per cent of the remaining capercaillie are found in Strathspey.
Now a five-year conservation initiative aimed at preserving their long-term future is to be launched. Spearheaded by the Cairngorms Nature partnership, the Cairngorms Capercaillie Project will work closely with communities to help the species survive.
RSPB Scotland conservation scientist Nick Wilkinson said: ‘The considerable conservation effort that has been directed at capercaillie for over two decades now has helped to prevent further population decline and has made a second extinction of this species from Scotland less likely.’
Cairngorms Nature manager Andy Ford said: ‘We hope to develop a programme of conservation action to support the longterm survival of the species.’
Susan Haysom of SNH said: ‘Unfortunately, deer fences are not always visible to capercaillie as they are flying through the forest. In particular, young birds which are dispersing from where they have hatched to new areas fly into them and die.
‘A lot of effort has been put in to identifying where the highest risk fences are and, where possible, they were removed. We have reduced the risk but there are still fences out there and collisions still happen.’