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

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.
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 Perrins, C.M. 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Cramp, S.; Perrins, C. M. 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. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	55,900,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	48,000,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	10000000-29999999 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2012
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	4.2 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population is estimated to number > c.40,000,000 individuals (Rich et al. 2004). The European population is estimated at 1,010,000-2,150,000 pairs, which equates to 2,020,000-4,310,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2015). Europe forms approximately 15% of the global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is 13,000,000-28,700,000 mature individuals, although further validation of this estimate is needed.The breeding population in Russia is estimated at c.100,000-1 million breeding pairs (Brazil 2009).

Trend justification: This species is widespread and common. It is suspected to exhibit marked three-fold to five-fold population fluctuations over ten year cycles. However declines have been noted locally owing to over-hunting. The species range has contracted in certain regions such as the Balkans, possibly owing to climatic changes (del Hoyo et al. 1994). In Europe the population size is estimated to be decreasing by 30-49% in 12.6 years (three generations) (BirdLife International 2015).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Belarus	extant	native	yes
Belgium	extant	introduced		yes
Canada	extant	native		yes
China (mainland)	extant	native		yes
Czechia	extant	native	yes
Estonia	extant	native	yes
Faroe Islands (to Denmark)	extant	introduced		yes
Finland	extant	native	yes
Germany	extant	native		yes
Ireland	extant	native	yes
Kazakhstan	extant	native		yes
Latvia	extant	native	yes
Lithuania	extant	native	yes
Mongolia	extant	native		yes
Norway	extant	native		yes
Poland	extant	vagrant			yes
Russia	extant	native	yes
Russia (Asian)	extant	native		yes
Russia (Central Asian)	extant	native	yes
Russia (European)	extant	native	yes
Spain	extant	native			yes
St Pierre and Miquelon (to France)	extinct	introduced	yes
Sweden	extant	native	yes
United Kingdom	extant	native	yes
USA	extant	native		yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Finland	Northern Kaldoaivi wilderness
Finland	Pöyrisjärvi wilderness

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Boreal	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subarctic	suitable	resident
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	resident
Grassland	Tundra	major	resident
Shrubland	Boreal	suitable	resident
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Willow Grouse Lagopus lagopus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/willow-grouse-lagopus-lagopus on 04/12/2024.
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 04/12/2024.