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Black grouse battle with each other on a early spring morning

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Springtime is when the male black grouse full of testosterone gather in groups called leks in the early morning to call loudly to attract females and strut about with their white tail feathers in a fan shape. The birds get so worked up with each other that's inevitably fights occur with the dominant male grouse defending its top position in the lek and have the pic of the females to mate with.

This footage shows two males fighting each other that reminds me of a pair of sumo wrestlers. The bird on the left in the video is the top bird in the lek and the bird on the right is challenging his position. The top bird seems to be an excellent fighter and can be seen plucking the feathers of the breasts of it's opponent as they clash together and spitting out a beak full of feathers leaving a bald patch on the others breast.

The black grouse are in serious trouble. Numbers are now so low in the UK that they are at risk of extinction in many areas making it a red list species for special concern. But thankfully at least in my local area they seem to be doing ok.

Footage captured in the Yorkshire Dales National Park on the 30th April 2019

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