Caucasian grouse
Lyrurus mlokosiewiczi
Giorgi Iankoshvili · Khino, Adjara Georgia field photo
Key facts in one look
- Group
- Bird
- Family
- Phasianidae
- In Georgia
- Resident; more than half of the world population
- Elevation
- 1,300–3,000 m
- IUCN
- NT (2023)
- Red List of Georgia
- VU (2014)
The Caucasian grouse lives only in the mountains of the Caucasus, and more than half of its world population is in Georgia. It lives at the treeline, where birch and rhododendron meet subalpine meadows, at 1,300–3,000 m. The male is glossy black with a long, forked tail and a red fleshy comb above the eye; the female is grey and finely barred. In spring the males gather on meadows above the forest to display. It is Vulnerable (VU) on Georgia's 2014 Red List and Near Threatened (NT) globally in the 2023 assessment. If you come across a lek, stay far back and do not disturb the birds. In older literature it is called Tetrao mlokosiewiczi.
Identification
Caucasian grouse: how to identify it
The Caucasian grouse is a large, ground-dwelling gamebird. The male is entirely glossy black, with a long, forked tail that curves down at the tip. The female is grey and densely barred.
The male is glossy black with a bottle-green sheen; even the undertail feathers are black like the rest of the body. Above the eye it has a red, warty fleshy comb. This red patch stands out against the black plumage from a distance.
The male's tail is long and forked: the outer feathers are about 5 cm longer than the central ones and curve down and slightly outwards at the tips. In an 1870s description the male is about 51 cm long in total. Modern measurements are not confirmed by a reliable source.
The underside of the wing, the rear underwing coverts and the axillaries, is pure white. This white shows mainly in flight; a perched male looks almost entirely black.
The female is grey with fine, dense blackish-brown and rusty-brown barring. Her tail is long and almost square, not forked like the male's.
Colour
The male is glossy black with a green sheen, a red comb above the eye and white feathers under the wing. The female is grey with fine blackish-brown and rusty barring.
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
The Caucasian grouse is a bird of the treeline: it lives in the transition belt between mountain forest and subalpine meadows. In Georgia it is found more often on rugged northern slopes with rhododendron and birch thickets, at 1,300–3,000 m. For leks it chooses grassy slopes facing south, especially south-west, above the forest. In winter and spring it uses the edge of the birch forest. Hay meadows from which livestock are kept out matter especially for breeding. In Georgia its range is confirmed in Mtskheta-Mtianeti, in the Kazbegi area. One bird was recorded near Kobi at 1,970 m in April 2018, and 21 males were counted at the Kazbegi Important Bird Area in 1997–2002. From Kakheti, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Racha, Adjara and Samtskhe-Javakheti there are only single observations: it was seen there, but that does not yet confirm a settled range. In 2004–2005 birds were also trapped at leks in Lagodekhi National Park and in the Erusheti highlands.
In Georgia the Caucasian grouse is confirmed in Mtskheta-Mtianeti. Regions are taken from the records-by-region table of public observations; a region counts as part of the range only when it has enough records.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
- Confirmed region
The Caucasian grouse feeds mainly on plants. In winter it eats birch buds and catkins, juniper berries and needles, willow shoots, bilberry and rhododendron shrubs and rosehips. From spring to autumn the menu widens: buds, leaves and fruits of grasses, shrubs and other plants, and also insects.
The Caucasian grouse breeds at leks: each spring the males gather on the same open sites above the forest and display to the females. In Georgia the breeding season runs from April to June. Nineteenth-century field notes say no pairing call was heard at the May–June display, while the male's wings can be heard from a distance in flight, like a pleasant whistle. The female nests on the ground. In winter it digs burrows in the snow, where it spends the night and waits out bad weather. It does not migrate: it stays in the mountains all year.
On Georgia's 2014 Red List the Caucasian grouse is Vulnerable (VU), because of its small range and declining habitat. Globally it is Near Threatened (NT) in the 2023 assessment, and its numbers are suspected to be decreasing. A 2019 estimate puts the world population at 28,000–58,000 mature birds; older estimates gave higher figures. In Georgia a 2009 estimate counts 7,500–15,800 calling males, more than half of the world population, although the survey method behind it is not described. Threats include intensive grazing of subalpine meadows, which affects about 40% of the meadows in its range, trampling of nests, herders' dogs, the building of roads and tourism infrastructure, and illegal hunting. Hunting kills about 1% of the population, most of it in Georgia. Climate change could shrink its range by 44% by 2050, according to projections. The species is fully protected throughout its range.
Giorgi Iankoshvili · Jean-Louis Carlo · mohetiale · Mathias D'haen · Zhou Zichen
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Yes, and in larger numbers than in any other country. A 2009 estimate counts 7,500–15,800 calling males in Georgia, more than half of the world population. Its range is confirmed in Mtskheta-Mtianeti, in the Kazbegi area. From Kakheti, Racha and a few other regions there are only single observations, although in 2004–2005 birds were also trapped at Lagodekhi and Erusheti. It stays here all year.
At the treeline, at 1,300–3,000 m. In Georgia it is found more often in rhododendron and birch thickets on northern slopes, and it chooses south-facing grassy slopes above the forest for its leks. In winter it uses the edge of the birch forest and burrows dug in the snow.
The male is glossy black, with a red comb above the eye and a long, forked tail that curves down at the tip. The underside of the wing is white, which shows in flight. The female is grey and finely barred, with an almost square tail. The male's tail and red comb are the most reliable marks.
In spring: in Georgia the breeding season runs from April to June. The males gather every year on the same open sites above the forest. If you know such a site, watch from far away and leave your dog at home, because disturbance harms its breeding.
Mainly plants. In winter it eats birch buds and catkins, juniper, willow shoots, bilberry, rhododendron and rosehips. From spring to autumn it adds buds, leaves and fruits, and also insects.
Yes. It is Vulnerable (VU) on Georgia's 2014 Red List and Near Threatened (NT) globally in the 2023 assessment. The species is fully protected throughout its range, but illegal hunting still happens, and most birds killed by hunting are taken in Georgia.
Above all, overgrazing of subalpine meadows: livestock trample nests and herders' dogs kill birds. Road and tourism construction, disturbance and illegal hunting are also threats. Climate change could shrink its range by 44% by 2050, according to projections.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
