Auerwild Aude

Capercaillie inhabit light, structurally rich conifer and mixed mountain forests with a high share of old timber, layered canopy and a vigorous ground cover dominated by bilberry. The birds avoid both large clear-cuts and dense, dark plantations, because they need open glades for display, low cover for hens and chicks and free flight lanes into mature trees, all at the same time. Cocks often rest in the crowns by day and feed on needles, buds, shoots and berries on the ground; chicks depend almost entirely on protein-rich insects during their first weeks.

The species is famous for its spring lek. Cocks gather on traditional display grounds and perform the well-known song with clicking, trilling, main beat and whetting phases, accompanied by the fanned tail and the upright stance. The classic DACH hunting forms are the cock hunt on the lek and careful stalking, always targeted exclusively at cocks and held to a very high standard of fair chase. Driven hunts on capercaillie are not part of the tradition.

Capercaillie are highly sensitive to disturbance, habitat loss and fragmentation. In Germany the species is listed as critically endangered on the Red List and has been under year-round protection for decades; Switzerland also maintains a full closed season. In parts of Austria a strictly regulated cock harvest is still possible in viable populations. Responsible hunters contribute mainly through habitat care, quiet zones around lek sites and predator management, helping to preserve this iconic bird of the mountain forests.