The Black Grouse is a wild fowl that has lived in our country for thousands of years, but which we don't see very often.

The grouse is almost entirely black with a purple sheen, its tail and underwings (and a stripe on the wing) are white. The red “lobes” on its head are actually eyebrows, the purpose of which is to make the greatest possible impression on the females.

The female bird is much more modest than the male: grayish-brown and with dark stripes all over.

Grouses mostly live in swamps, bushes and forest edges, where there is little human influence. They mostly eat birch buds, shoots and bark.

(Bio.edu.ee)

As we all know from childhood, there is usually only one rooster in a flock of chickens. The same is true for grouse - they are polygamous birds.

There is one rule in nature - “the stronger one wins” - and based on this rule, grouse roosters show each other which one is the strongest.

The game time is in spring, from March to the end of April, each male has a certain place in the hierarchy - the birds with a higher position are in the middle of the playing field, while the lower ones are on the edge. And the goal of each is to reach the middle of the field from the edge - and get the approval of the female that arrives there.

Spring grouse games mostly take place in swamps and bogs, but also in fields and meadows at the edge of the forest, where the disturbance factor is low.

(Bio.edu.ee, Arne Ader)