Red Grouse

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Red Grouse in the UK

Red Grouse is a resident wherever there is extensive heather moorland. The UK estimate is about 265,000 pairs. It was long treated as the British and Irish race of Willow Ptarmigan, but was split as a full species, Lagopus scotica, in 2024. That makes it one of only two bird species found nowhere outside Britain and Ireland. The breeding index fell by 27% between 1995 and 2024, and the small population in south-west England appears to have died out. It is currently Green-listed in the UK. On many moors, numbers are shaped by management for driven grouse shooting.

Where and when to see a Red Grouse

The Pennines, North York Moors, Cheviots, eastern Borders and eastern Highlands hold the highest numbers. Birds are easy to see from moorland roads and paths in the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, the North York Moors and the Cairngorms. Wales has smaller numbers, and the Long Mynd in Shropshire has an outlying population. They are present all year. Early morning in spring is best, when males display from rocks and tussocks. Much of the ground is open access land, but keep to paths and keep dogs on leads in the nesting season.

Habitat, diet and field notes

Habitat: Heather moorland.
Diet: Heather shoots, berries.
Field note: "Go-back, go-back" call.

How to identify a Red Grouse

A plump, chicken-like bird, bigger than a Grey Partridge and smaller than a hen Pheasant, with a short black tail. The male is dark reddish-brown all over with fine black barring and a red comb above the eye that swells in spring. The female is paler and yellower with heavier barring and a small comb. Legs and feet are feathered white. Unlike Willow Ptarmigan it has dark wings and never turns white in winter. Flushed birds explode from the heather, then fly low with bursts of whirring beats between glides on bowed wings.

Call and song

Loud and easy to learn. The call is a rapid, cackling 'kok-kok-kok' that slows and ends in a gruff 'go-back, go-back, go-back'. Males often give it in a short display flight, rising steeply and then gliding down. Heard something you cannot place? Bird Hear identifies UK birds from a 10 second recording, free in your browser.

Confusion species

• Black Grouse: A female Black Grouse is greyer brown with a longer, notched tail and a thin white wingbar, and keeps to the moorland edge near trees.
• Rock Ptarmigan: Ptarmigan lives on the high tops of the Scottish Highlands, has white wings all year and turns white in winter.
• Grey Partridge: Grey Partridge is smaller with an orange face, grey breast and rusty tail, and is a bird of farmland.

Related guide Bird migration in Britain.

Conservation status and Birdedex points

In the Birdedex the Red Grouse is an Uncommon tier bird, worth +3 points when you log one. It is not on the Red or Amber lists in Birds of Conservation Concern 5.

Recent UK sightings

Similar birds

• Rock PtarmiganRare · High-altitude tundra
• Common CuckooUncommon · Reedbeds
• European Golden PloverUncommon · Moorland (summer); fields (winter)
• MerlinUncommon · Moorland (summer); coast (winter)
• Short-eared OwlUncommon · Moorland
• Black GrouseRare · Moorland fringe

Red Grouse: quick answers

Where can I see a Red Grouse in the UK?

On heather moors in northern England, Scotland and parts of Wales. Roads that cross the North York Moors, the Dark Peak and the Yorkshire Dales give views from the car, and birds often stand on walls and roadside banks. In Ireland it lives on bogs as well as moorland.

What does a Red Grouse eat?

Heather. Shoots, buds, flowers and seeds of ling heather make up most of the adult diet, with bilberry, cotton-grass and other moorland plants added in season. Chicks need insects for the first weeks of life.

When is the best time to see Red Grouse?

Any month, as they do not leave the moor. March to May is best for calling, displaying males, and August for birds against flowering heather. The shooting season runs from 12 August to 10 December, and some paths may be affected on shoot days.

Kit that helps

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