Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Adult Female - 1; Adult Male - 2
- Behaviors
- Courtship, display, or copulation
- Sounds
- Call; Non-vocal; Song
- Playback
- Playback not used
Media notes
This recording is of an aggressive encounter (physical fight) between two cock Capercaillies with a hen in attendance when the cocks commenced physical contact. The recording begins at approximately 0500 hours in the blackness of pre-dawn. At approximately 15 seconds into the recording an unseen cock begins "clicking," presumably from its nighttime roosting perch. At approximately 10:07 a male from what seems the same relative distance and position begins to give the full courtship display. At about 43:30 into the recording, two unseen cocks can be heard displaying back to back in the stereo field. One individual is more distant in the left channel, a somewhat closer cock in the right. The cock in the left channel appears to move closer, indicated by wing sounds, continuing to vocalize as it moves in the direction of the MS stereo pair. The bird in the right channel responds by moving from right to left and displaying. Just after this occurs, a few clicks are heard in the right channel from a third cock as the initial two birds move closer to one another. At 44:58 pig-like "aggressive" vocalizations are given by one of the cocks signaling an escalation in their interaction. At the time these vocalizations were heard a hen and two males were visible from the hide. The neck feathers of the cocks were erect, giving each cock's neck the appearance of being twice the diameter of a male giving the courtship vocalization. During this time, movements of the males with respect to one another as they size one another up, is audible in this stereo recording. While giving "grunt" calls as well as full displays, they move closer to the stereo pair. Then they and the hen move out of my sight, thought still close to the microphones, continuing the aggressive interaction. At 49:24 the cocks come together and the first blow is heard. A third cock is heard in the background immediately afterward. They then engage once again in more aggressive calling. At 50:56, they reengage one another in a protracted and audible series of blows. During the blows, no vocalizations are heard from either male, though a third male can be heard at times in the background. According to Desmond Dugan, who has witnessed such interactions, the males grab one another beak to throat and strike blows by throwing their wings forward into their opponent. Following the cessation of the physical fight one of the two males was observed returning to the vicinity of the MS stereo pair and moving out of sight. His head was soaking wet and, either due to wetness or loss of feathers, had the appearance of a balding man with only a couple of thin strands of hair remaining. A male was subsequently heard (58:38) displaying in the direction this male had traveled. The weather was overcast, windy, no moonlight, with a dusting of freshly fallen snow on the ground. At 0400 hours I was led to a hide near a traditional lekking site by the assistant warden. No flashlights were used and it was completely dark, making it nearly impossible to see the man in front, who was no more than an arm's length ahead at times. I remained inside the hide until retrieved by the assistant warden at approximately 1000 hrs. Thumps and pops heard through the recording are from snow and detritus falling on the microphone zeppelin (with long-hair windscreen) from the trees above. Other Behaviors: Court, Lek, Fight, Perform Visual Display. Habitat: Forest, Coniferous Forest, Deciduous Forest. Equipment Notes: Decoded MS Stereo.
Technical information
- Recorder
- HHB PORTADAT PDR 1000
- Microphone
- Sennheiser MKH 20; Sennheiser MKH 30
- Accessories
Archival information
- Cataloged
- 28 Sep 2001 - Martha Fischer
- Digitized
- 24 May 2016 - Brad Walker
- Edited
- 28 Sep 2001 - Martha Fischer