Capercaillie and black grouse — the ones you do not visit
Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus): Black Forest, Bavarian Forest, Fichtelgebirge, Alps; black grouse only in the Alps and a few heaths. Schwarzwald, Bayerischer Wald, Bavarian Alps, Germany.
Best time: 5 Apr – 30 Apr (April). Where: Nationalpark Schwarzwald (Ruhestein), Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald (Rachel–Lusen), Bavarian Alps (Ammergau / Karwendel) (Germany). Time of day: Capercaillie sing from about an hour before sunrise to shortly after it.
- Guide, ranger or boat needed
- Free
- No binoculars needed
- Sound 4/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
Peak: 5 Apr – 30 Apr. April; leks start an hour before dawn
Active from 15 Mar to 15 May (March to May) in a typical year.
Time of day
Capercaillie sing from about an hour before sunrise to shortly after it; black grouse to 2 h after sunrise. Only with a permitted, monitored session — otherwise use the Tierfreigelände captive birds by day.
- Dawn lek (permit only): 1 h before sunrise → 2 h after sunrise
What will you hear?
The capercaillie's accelerating clicks, 'cork-pop' and grinding — a very quiet song (audible to ~200 m) that is almost never recorded in Germany without a permit. Black grouse bubbling in the Alps.
Binoculars?
No binoculars needed. No public access to leks; the captive birds at the Tierfreigelände are at a few metres.
Where to go
- Nationalpark Schwarzwald (Ruhestein) — Emergency action plan for the last ~100 birds; seasonal path closures Dec–July; strict Wegegebot. Visit the park exhibition, not the leks. Map
- Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald (Rachel–Lusen) — Recovering population; closed high-altitude zones in winter and spring; lek display 'in late winter' per the park. Reference sound at the Tierfreigelände (captive). Map
- Bavarian Alps (Ammergau / Karwendel) — Black grouse and capercaillie; Wildschutzgebiete with seasonal bans, managed by the Bavarian forest service. Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
There is no public access to German capercaillie leks: the sectors are closed December to mid July and disturbance is an offence. A monitored session can only be arranged with the national park or the FVA Baden-Württemberg capercaillie team, and is rarely granted. The Tierfreigelände at Neuschönau (free, open all year) has captive birds for reference sound.
Cost: No public lek access; Tierfreigelände Neuschönau free.
Free or no-guide alternative: No legal free way to a wild German lek. The free Tierfreigelände at Neuschönau gives reference capercaillie sound from captive birds by day; for wild leks go to Austria, Switzerland or Norway where guided or trail-based listening exists.
Field-recording notes
In Germany capercaillie is 'vom Aussterben bedroht' and leks are protected under BNatSchG §44 (disturbance of strictly protected species is an offence; fines and, in NSGs, criminal liability). National parks close the relevant areas from December to mid July and enforce them. If you want the lek, work with the park or the state forest institute (FVA Baden-Württemberg's Auerhuhn team) for a monitored, permitted session — otherwise use the Tierfreigelände captive birds for reference and record black grouse in Austria or Switzerland where guided lek hides exist.
Sources
- Nationalpark Schwarzwald – Auerhuhn-Notfallplan
- FVA Baden-Württemberg – Aktionsplan Auerhuhn
- Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald – Tiere
Similar spectacles
Capercaillie and black grouse leks in the eastern forestsCapercaillie's clicking, cork-pop and grinding song from pine bog edges, wing-beats of cocks flying in, black grouse bubbling on the open bogs; cranes, whooper swans and Tengmalm's owl in the same nights.
Black grouse leksBubbling 'rookooing' from displaying males, hissing 'tchu-wee' sneezes and flutter jumps; curlew and snipe often in the same soundscape.
Black grouse leks in the AlpsBubbling 'rookooing' and hissing from males on snow patches at the treeline, ring ouzels, water pipits, and meltwater.
Black grouse leks in the Alps and JuraBubbling 'rookooing' rolling across a snow-patched alpine meadow from several cocks, sneezing 'tchu-shwee' hisses, wing-flutter jumps; ring ouzel and water pipit around them; cowbells not yet arrived.
Black grouse leks above the treelineBubbling 'rookooing' and explosive hisses from several cocks on a snow-patched clearing, wing-flutter jumps, ring ouzel and ptarmigan croaks; cowbells arrive later in the season.
Black grouse leks above the treelineBubbling 'rookooing' and explosive hissing from several cocks at once on a snow-patched clearing, ring ouzel and water pipit around them; capercaillie 'cork-pop' song from the forest edge in the same weeks.
More: all spectacles in Germany · black grouse leks · capercaillie · leks · Germany in April