The Capercaillie: COURTSHIP DANCER

With its iridescent green-yellow plumage and bright red markings over the eyes, the capercaillie has to be one of the most strikingly beautiful of our indigenous bird varieties.

The courtship of the capercaillie is a very special natural wonder. In spring, the capercaillie sings and dances to attract the female of the species. In this spectacle, he raises his tail feathers in a half circle, spreads his wings and loftily extends his head. Apparently the ‘Schuhplattlers’ got their ideas from watching capercaillies dance. As he is somewhat ungainly and cumbersome when flying, the capercaillie moves mainly on foot and avoids thick forests.

He needs big, old trees as a sleeping place and enough bushes to hide in. The capercaillie also likes plenty of berry bushes as berries are his favourite food. But these important living conditions have become rare in Germany and the capercaillie is now threatened with extinction in the whole country. But he has found increasingly good conditions for survival in the Sumava and Bavarian Forest National Parks and his call can again be heard in our infinite forest wilderness.