Alpine black grouse leks

Black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) — 'fagiano di monte'. Alps, Italy.

Best time: 25 Apr – 31 May (April to May). Where: Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio (Bormio), Parco Naturale Paneveggio–Pale di San Martino, Val Grande National Park, Piedmont (Italy). Time of day: Approach before dark.

• Partly on your own
• Free
• Telescope recommended
• 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: 25 Apr – 31 May. Late April to end of May (snow-dependent)

Active from 10 Apr to 10 Jun (April to June) in a typical year.

Time of day

Approach before dark; display from about 45 min before sunrise to 2 h after, then the cocks disperse; a shorter evening lek in the hour before sunset.

• Dawn lek: 45 min before sunrise → 2 h after sunrise
• Evening lek: 1 h before sunset → sunset

What will you hear?

Bubbling leks on snowy slopes at the treeline, with ring ouzels, alpine accentors, and snowmelt streams.

Binoculars?

Telescope recommended. Sit 150 m off in cover at first light; a scope makes the display, binoculars are the minimum.

Where to go

• Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio (Bormio) — Park rangers can advise on non-disturbing viewpoints. Map
• Parco Naturale Paneveggio–Pale di San Martino — Guided outings sometimes offered by the park. Map
• Val Grande National Park, Piedmont — Remote and roadless. Map

How to go on your own, and what it costs

Public trails at the treeline are free, but the leks are not signposted and disturbance is a real problem: ask the Stelvio park visitor centre in Bormio or the Paneveggio park office for non-disturbing viewpoints, walk up in the dark, sit 150 m off in cover and leave after the birds. Val Grande: remote, free, no facilities.

Cost: Free; park-guided outings (Paneveggio) are paid when offered (check current prices).

Free or no-guide alternative: Free from the public trails above Bormio (Stelvio) once a ranger has pointed you to a viewpoint that does not disturb the birds; arrive in the dark and stay put.

Field-recording notes

Winter roost and lek disturbance is a serious issue for Alpine grouse. Approach before dark, stay put, and leave only after the birds do. Capercaillie leks are not a target anywhere in the Alps. Snow at dawn means very low noise floor — self-noise matters.

Sources

• Parco dello Stelvio

Similar spectacles

• Capercaillie and black grouse leks in the eastern forestsNorway · Lek · peak 15 Apr–5 MayCapercaillie'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 leksUnited Kingdom · Lek · peak 1 Apr–30 AprBubbling 'rookooing' from displaying males, hissing 'tchu-wee' sneezes and flutter jumps; curlew and snipe often in the same soundscape.
• Capercaillie and black grouse — the ones you do not visitGermany · Lek · peak 5 Apr–30 AprThe 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.
• Black grouse leks in the AlpsFrance · Lek · peak 25 Apr–25 MayBubbling 'rookooing' and hissing from males on snow patches at the treeline, ring ouzels, water pipits, and meltwater.
• Black grouse leks in the Alps and JuraSwitzerland · Lek · peak 15 Apr–15 MayBubbling '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 treelineAustria · Lek · peak 15 Apr–15 MayBubbling '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.

More: all spectacles in Italy · black grouse leks · leks · Italy in April · Italy in May