• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Lyrurus mlokosiewiczi (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) was previously placed in the genus Tetrao.

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2023	Near Threatened	A3cde
2016	Near Threatened	A3cde
2015	Near Threatened	A3cde
2012	Near Threatened	A3cde
2008	Near Threatened	A3c,d,e
2004	Data Deficient
2000	Data Deficient
1994	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1988	Near Threatened

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	321,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	28000-58000 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2019
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Generation length	4.09 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The overall population size is estimated at between 28,300 and 57,700 mature individuals (Habibzadeh and Ludwig 2019, BirdLife International 2021), rounded to 28,000-58,000 mature individuals. Almost all of the species' range is in Europe, with a breeding population estimated at 14,100-28,800 calling or lekking males, approximately equivalent to 28,200-57,600 mature individuals and 42,700-87,300 individuals (BirdLife International 2021). In addition there is a very small population in north-west Iran most recently estimated as between 98-196 individuals (Habibzadeh and Ludwig 2019), rounded to 100-200 individuals or 60-130 mature individuals.

Georgia holds the largest proportion of these with 7,500-15,800 calling or lekking males, however this estimate dates from 2009 and lacks data on the method of survey (BirdLife International 2021). Improving this estimate is a priority for the species, given that this represents more than 50% of the global population.

Trend justification: Declines are reported from Armenia (at a rate of 10% to 20% over the period 2003-2018) and Turkey (between 2000-2019 based on expert opinion). The rate is considered stable in Azerbaijan, however is unknown for Russia and Georgia, which hold the majority of the global population. In north-west Iran the population is thought to have increased in size from 215 individuals in 2001 to 350 individuals in 2009 (Khaleghizadeh et al. 2011) however it is now suggested that the population may have declined to 98–196 individuals (Habibzadeh and Ludwig 2019).

The population is therefore suspected to have been declining over the past three generations, but at an unknown rate.

However, an increasing impact of habitat degradation is anticipated due to rapidly changing agricultural practices and fragmentation due to development, in particular that linked to new roads (BirdLife International 2021). Its habitat in Azerbaijan is reported to be decreasing and under heavy grazing pressure (E. Sultanov in litt. 2015), while the construction of tourist infrastructure has been cited as an issue elsewhere (BaÞkaya 2003, G. Welch in litt. 2005, Isfendiyaroglu et al. 2007, Ýsfendiyaroðlu et al. 2007).

These changes are connected, but additional, to a projected 44% reduction in the extent of suitable habitat due to climate change by 2050 (Hof and Allen 2019). If this occurs, and climate fluctuation is documented as a driver of past distributional change in the species (Vitovich 1986), it is equivalent to around a 20% range reduction over three generations. This would likely result in a population reduction at a rate exceeding this value. In addition the species is subject to illegal hunting in countries, although estimates are that the level of take approximates around 1% of the total population (Brochet et al. 2019). 

Overall, future rates of population decline are suspected to be moderately rapid and are placed in a band of 20-29% over three generations.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Armenia	extant	native	yes
Azerbaijan	extant	native	yes
Georgia	extant	native	yes
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native	yes
Russia	extant	native	yes
Russia (European)	extant	native	yes
Türkiye	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Armenia	Dsegh
Armenia	Haghartsin
Armenia	Meghri
Armenia	Mount Ara
Armenia	Pombak mountain chain
Armenia	Zangezoor
Azerbaijan	Ilisu area
Azerbaijan	Ismailly area
Azerbaijan	Lake Gey Gel
Azerbaijan	Mount Babadag
Azerbaijan	Mount Bazar-Duzu
Azerbaijan	Mount Giamysh
Azerbaijan	Mount Shahdag
Azerbaijan	Ordubad area
Azerbaijan	Zakataly
Georgia	Adjara-Imereti Ridge
Georgia	Eastern Caucasus mountains
Georgia	Gumista
Georgia	Kazbegi
Georgia	Khevsureti
Georgia	Kintrishi
Georgia	Lagodekhi
Georgia	Liakhvi
Georgia	Meskheti Ridge
Georgia	Pskhu
Georgia	Racha
Georgia	Ritsa
Georgia	Shavsheti Ridge
Georgia	Svaneti
Georgia	Trialeti Ridge
Georgia	Tusheti
Iran, Islamic Republic of	Arasbaran Protected Area
Russia (European)	Alagirskoye i Kurtatinskoye ravines (Severo-Osetinski (North Osetin) Nature Reserve)
Russia (European)	Alaniya National Park
Russia (European)	Bazarduyzi and Shalbuzdag alpine mountains
Russia (European)	Bolchoi Tkhach mountain
Russia (European)	Digoriya rocks
Russia (European)	Kabardino-Balkarski Nature Reserve
Russia (European)	Kasumkentski reserve
Russia (European)	Kebyaktepe ridge
Russia (European)	Kezenoi-Am lake
Russia (European)	Khulamskoye ravine
Russia (European)	Kosobo-Kelebski reserve
Russia (European)	Malka river ravine
Russia (European)	Priel'brus'ye National Park
Russia (European)	Ravine of Eshkakon river
Russia (European)	Samurski ridge
Russia (European)	Shanskoye ravine
Russia (European)	Sochinsky National Park
Russia (European)	Sources of Khudes river
Russia (European)	Sources of Kuna and Shisha rivers
Russia (European)	Targimskaya intermountain
Russia (European)	Teberdinski Nature Reserve
Russia (European)	Tlyaratinski reserve
Türkiye	Eastern Black Sea Mountains
Türkiye	Karçal Mountains
Türkiye	Yalnızçam Mountains

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Temperate	major	resident
Grassland	Temperate	major	resident
Altitude	1300 - 3000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	300 - 3300 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Temperature extremes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Energy production & mining	Renewable energy	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem conversion
Residential & commercial development	Tourism & recreation areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Caucasian Grouse Lyrurus mlokosiewiczi. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/caucasian-grouse-lyrurus-mlokosiewiczi on 24/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 24/11/2024.