Black grouse breed on North York Moors for first time since 1840s

Black grouse have bred on the North York Moors for what is believed to be the first time in almost two centuries.

One of the UK’s rarest birds, 10 males and 10 females were moved from the North Pennines to the North York Moors last autumn as part of the Black Grouse Range Expansion Project.

The project is funded by the Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme and led by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT).

It said 12 chicks had been produced in the first breeding season and there were plans to introduce more birds to the area this autumn.

According to the trust, while the occassional female has been spotted on the North York Moors in recent years, there are no reliable records of successful breeding since the 1840s.

Black grouse, a red list species of high conservation concern, were once present in every county in England.

They are now largely restricted to the North Pennines, which includes parts of County Durham, Northumberland, Cumbria and North Yorkshire.

The GWCT said numbers have remained broadly stable, fluctuating between 1,000 to 2,000 displaying males over the last 25 years.

The grouse moved to the moors were caught by researchers at night-time roosts and immediately transported to the release site two hours’ drive away.

Eight males and eight females were fitted with radio tags and followed through the breeding season to assess movements, survival and breeding behaviour.

The seven males still present in the spring established leks, an area where they could gather and display themselves to attract females.

All of the seven females still around in the spring nested, with five nests hatching and two being abandoned.

Dr Phil Warren, from GWCT, said they were really pleased with the results.

“The birds have settled well, established leks and, most importantly, bred successfully.

“The next phase is to bolster the initial release with further birds this coming autumn to help establish a self-sustaining population in the North York Moors.”

The black grouse’s natural habitat is moorland and the edge of forests.

They are best known for their early morning, spring-time gatherings, called leks, where the males gather to compete for females.

The male’s song consists of a long, dove-like bubbling coo or murmur and the females have a cackling call.

Males are jet black with long, curved tail feathers. They have a slim white stripe in the wing and white feathers under the tail.

Females are well camouflaged with finely barred brown and black plumage.

The North York Moors were selected for this project due to habitat improvements on the fringes of moorland managed for red grouse shooting.

Work carried out included removing conifer woodland and restoring the ground to bog, heath and scrub woodland.

Moorland grasslands have also been managed more extensively to control bracken and restore bilberry and heather.

Researchers hope that the climate in the North York Moors, which is drier and warmer than that in the Pennines in June when chicks hatch, will help the birds to continue to breed successfully and re-establish populations in an area which is more resilient to the effects of a changing climate.

The project was funded by £164,000 from Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme, £30,000 from the BASC Wildlife Fund and donations through the Black Grouse Appeal.

Dr Warren said the project had only been possible due to the help of estate owners in the North Pennines who had helped locate and move birds.

“We are also incredibly grateful for all the help we have had from the keepers on the North York Moors, who have provided suitable habitats and provided protection from predators throughout.”

The trust now plans to move another 20 birds to the North York Moors this autumn and this will take place under licence from Natural England.

It is legal to shoot black grouse during the shooting season, but gamekeepers and shoot owners across the UK have for several years observed a voluntary moratorium on shooting black grouse due to their conservation status, the GWCT said.