Current view: Data table and detailed info
Taxonomic note
Formerly placed in genus Bonasa (AERC TAC 2003, Cramp et al. 1977-1994, del Hoyo and Collar 2014), this reinforced by Lucchini et al. (2001) despite behavioural differences from Bonasa umbellus (Drovetski et al. 2006), but the phylogeny of Kimball et al. (2021) show that the genus Bonasa is not monophyletic, and that this species should be placed in the genus Tetrastes. Occasional hybridization by present species with Lagopus lagopus, Lagopus muta and Lyrurus tetrix reported. Complex internal taxonomy, and assessment of variation made more difficult by existence of two colour morphs, grey and rufous, over much of range. Various attempts to lump subspecies, e.g. sometimes only four recognized, with styriaca, rhenana and schiebeli placed in rupestris; volgensis and griseonota in bonasia; kolymensis in sibirica; and amurensis and yamashinai in vicinitas. Other proposed subspecies include horicei and carpathicus (included in rupestris), and gilacorum and coreensis (included in amurensis). Twelve subspecies currently recognised.
Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2022. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip.
IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Red List history
| Migratory status |
not a migrant |
Forest dependency |
high |
| Land-mass type |
|
Average mass |
429 g |
Population justification: In Europe, the total population size is estimated at 4,010,000-6,960,000 mature individuals, with 2,000,000-3,480,000 breeding pairs (BirdLife International 2021). Europe forms approximately 30% of the species' global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is between 13,400,000-23,200,000 mature individuals, although further validation of this estimate is desirable. The European trend for this species is not known (BirdLife International 2021), although it has declined in Fennoscandia (PECBMS 2023). Local extinctions have been recorded in parts of China and Mongolia as a result of forest loss (Madge and McGowan 2002). This species is considered to have a high dependency on forest habitat, which is estimated to be declining at a rate of 6.5% over the past three generations within its mapped range (Global Forest Watch 2024). It is therefore tentatively suspected that this rate of cover loss may have led to a decline of between 1-19% in the species' population size over the same time frame, with a best estimate of reduction of 5-9%.
Trend justification: .
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Hazel Grouse Tetrastes bonasia. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/hazel-grouse-tetrastes-bonasia on 23/12/2024.
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 23/12/2024.
