The Capercaillie is an endangered bird which lives in Scotland. It's a type of grouse. There are fewer than 600 left.
It has an interesting courtship ritual which involves making a large clearing called a lek.
It has a distinctive call. I've heard it once or twice in my life.
Capercaillie is also the name for a Scottish band which have been around for over 25 years. I have been listening to their music for as long as that, and have seen them play live quite a few times, most recently when they visited King's Lynn's Corn Exchange - which meant my shortest ever trip to one of their gigs.
Members of the band have also released their own albums separately and several of those are well worth mentioning here for your further exploration as well.
These include Manus Lunny's excellent album with Andy Stewart.
Karen Matheson has released a number of solo albums.
Donald Shaw has worked as a producer as well and created soundtracks.
He also worked on the music for Katie Morag: a book series which many Primary geographers will be familiar with, and will have used
The violinist Charlie McKerron worked with Donald Shaw to produce music for a BBC Alba TV series.
A recent addition to the band Andrew McGoldrick has also released a number of solo albums which I own.
Here's a Hogmanay performance from New Years Eve 1991/2
Most recently, they played Sidmouth Folk Festival 2026 when I was down in Devon for the week.
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