Before the first rays of light reach the eastern hills
in early summer, the black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) leave their roosts and gather at a favoured Jousting ground. As few people are awake these 'Highland gatherings' pass largely unseen. In
many places the black grouse jousting grounds have a history extending back 60 or more years and the assembly has all the ritual of a medieval tournament. Black grouse, like a few other birds,
have acquired different common names according to their sex. Thus the male is called the blackcock, the female the greyhen. As with
the ruff and reeve, another species that assembles at 'leks' or communal display grounds it is the males that gather before first light.
Here each bird stakes out its territory, fending off its neighbours with elaborate displays of posturing and aggression, often leaping into the air. Up to 20 males may be present (although
the number is often much smaller) all puffing up their breasts, drooping their wings and fanning their lyre-shaped tails to expose the white undertail. As the season progresses each
male knows its own place on the lek and vigorous display is reserved for the visits of a female. Often the greyhen will wait at a distance to watch the performance, sometimes from a
well-sited grandstand in a tree. As she approaches, all the blackcocks burst into a frenzy of display in their efforts to impress her with their particular suitability as a mate.
Greyhens ignore most of their antics and walk swiftly to the male of their choice, where they are briefly courted and mated. In general the stronger and more experienced males hold
territories at the centre of the lek and it is these dominant birds that are chosen by the visiting females over and over again. That each male has established its own mini-territory within the
lek ensures that mating can take place without undue interruption, but the successful suitor is frequently attacked by other males as soon as mating is completed. Generally, greyhens visit
the lek singly, but on occasion two have been seen fighting among themselves while the males look on. Later, the female lays her eggs in a shallow scrape on the ground and performs all
the incubation and care of the young herself, although many chicks are lost to bad weather and predators. It has been suggested that this may be a cause of
the undoubted decline of black grouse in Scotland, but the decline and
contraction of its range started towards the end of the 19th century and is more likely due to overshooting and change in habitat.
Black grouse are birds of scattered forests and the forest's edge. Most of their food consists of heather, but when snow covers the ground the birds seek shelter in woodland and may
then resort to the buds and shoots of young conifer plantations, which cover so much of the countryside - a fact that does little for their relationship with foresters. There are many
traditional! leks on Deeside. However, just as it is the early blackcock that catches the greyhen, so it is the early watcher who is rewarded by the sight of this fascinating ritual
jousting that is such a feature of the mating season in the lives of these unusual birds.
Before the first rays of light reach the eastern hills
in early summer, the black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) leave their roosts and gather at a favoured Jousting ground. As few people are awake these 'Highland gatherings' pass largely unseen. In
many places the black grouse jousting grounds have a history extending back 60 or more years and the assembly has all the ritual of a medieval tournament. Black grouse, like a few other birds,
have acquired different common names according to their sex. Thus the male is called the blackcock, the female the greyhen. As with
the ruff and reeve, another species that assembles at 'leks' or communal display grounds it is the males that gather before first light.