What’s In a Name
Photographs and Words Nick Sidle
Photograph – Western Capercaillie, Tetrao urogallus, Cairngorms National Park, Highland Scotland
The Capercaillie is a very large Grouse like bird long associated with the native woodlands of Scotland. Over hunting and habitat loss meant it ceased to be found in the country by the late 1700’s but later reintroductions from Sweden have meant that it is once again part of the wild backdrop to the Scottish landscape.
Photograph – Western Capercaillie, Tetrao urogallus, Cairngorms National Park, Highland Scotland
The name Capercaillie appears with various spellings but all seem to stem from the Gaelic, although there is more than one possible root there as well. The most widely quoted is Capall coille meaning Horse of the Woods, believed to refer to the sheer size of the bird and the calls of the male in spring which, with a little imagination, could be said to sound like a horse, and a phrase in its more routine song, which can be described as ‘tik-up’, resembling the sound of a horse’s hooves. An alternative Gaelic base is Gabhar-coille, The Goat of the Wood, possibly coming from the male’s goat-like beard and, especially in spring, belligerence. Males display and compete ferociously with each other for females but have been known to show aggression to people and even vehicles that stray into what they see as their part of the forest.
Photograph – Western Capercaillie, Tetrao urogallus, Cairngorms National Park, Highland Scotland
Capercaillie are declining in numbers again and great efforts are being made to keep them as part of the Scottish wild forest. Their future is not secure they could become extinct as a Scottish species. That one or two individual birds have adopted less than sensible strategies including attacking Land Rovers is not the reason. That, and any solution, is down to people, us.
Western Capercaillie, Tetrao urogallus, Cairngorms National Park, Highland Scotland
Capercaillie photographed in The Cairngorms National Park with the assistance of Forestry Commission Scotland.
Photographs and text ©Nick Sidle, all rights reserved