Tetrastes bonasia
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
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.
The hazel grouse was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tetrao bonasia. Although Linnaeus specified the type locality as Europe, this is restricted to Sweden. The hazel grouse is now placed with the Chinese grouse in the genus Tetrastes that was introduced in 1840 by Alexander von Keyserling and Johann Heinrich Blasius. The specific epithet bonasia is Modern Latin for the hazel grouse, from the Italian name for the species.
Eleven subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Białowieża National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 2 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Tatra National Park | 🇸🇰 Slovakia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Novosibirsk | 🇷🇺 Russia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lusen National Park Centre | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Hazel Grouse sighting in Białowieża National Park on a given day, based on 70 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 120th most-seen of the 182 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–April, June, September and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Hazel Grouse in Białowieża National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, May, July–August and October–November, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Hazel Grouse sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Hazel Grouse sightings, Białowieża National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Bavarian Forest National Park (Germany, under 5%) and Tatra National Park (Slovakia, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Hazel Grouse is recorded against all the birds logged in Białowieża National Park (70 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
