Hazel Grouse

Tetrastes bonasia (Linnaeus, 1758)

≈36 cmLength429 gWeight

This small, rounded grouse is shy and hard to see, and the male has a black throat edged with white.

Busiest months: October · Most records: China, Finland, South Korea

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Male has a black throat with white edges
Male has a short crest that it can raise
Upperparts gray, wings brown, underparts white with chestnut patches
Tail gray with a black tip in flight

Male, female and young

Female has a shorter crest and lacks black on the throat.

Voice

Male gives a high-pitched “ti-ti-ti-ti-ti”; female gives a clear “tettettettettet”.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: October · Most records: China, Finland, South Korea

Hazel Grouse has been recorded at 46 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 15 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Urqihan [General Area]China171 records
CHKO Jeseníky – Červenohorské sedloCzechia29 records
Namhansanseong Provincial ParkSouth Korea29 records

More places

Sapieginės miškasLithuania15 records
Raahe – Aittalahti lintutorniFinland15 records
Jingxin Wetlands [General Area]China14 records
Siemianówka Reservoir (IBA PL170)Poland13 records
Zaan Terelj River, Gorkhi Terelj National Park, MNMongolia11 records
Gorkhi Terelj National Park, MNMongolia11 records
Ilmatsalu kalatiigidEstonia8 records

Countries and regions with the most records

China Finland South Korea Czechia Mongolia Lithuania Poland Estonia

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia), sometimes called the hazel hen, is one of the smaller members of the grouse tribe of birds. It is a sedentary species, breeding across the Palearctic as far east as Hokkaido, and as far west as central Europe, in dense, damp, mixed coniferous woodland, preferably with some spruce. The bird is sometimes referred to as "rabchick" (from рябчик) by early 20th century English speaking travellers to Russia.

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