Edinburgh Napier University

  Given new avenues for Black Grouse Lyrurus tetrix telemetry, and translocations to previously occupied areas, we designed a new cage trap for use at leks that was safe, reliable, and easily transportable, and a custom black-and-white wing-tag that was visible in low light and under camera-trap infrared illumination. The trap was tested over 12 trap days in autumn/winter. Behaviour before and after trapping and marking was monitored with camera traps and then via daily spring watches. The trap was simple to set up and operate, with a quiet closure mechanism that did not typically flush other birds, allowing multiple catches per day. Birds were caught on three quarters of trap days and at a rate of 2.5 birds per hour set. Typically, birds behaved apparently normally around traps and after trapping and tagging, although with some indication of resource-guarding of bait. Lek counts between autumn and spring matched patterns reported from other local leks. Tags were identifiable using camera traps (including with infrared in pre-dawn low light) and via optics. This trapping method could be tested in the spring to assess its ability to catch females, and our approaches could be applied to future telemetry, translocation, behavioural or demographic studies.