Rackelhahn, Rackelwild, Rackelhane, Western Capercaillie x Black Grouse (hybrid)

Western Capercaillie x Black Grouse (hybrid) (Tetrao urogallus x Lyrurus tetrix) or rackelhahn or rackelwild, a hybrid between the western capercaillie and the black grouse. It is likely unable to produce offspring in the wild.

Hybridization between some grouse species is rather common (Johnsgard 1983; McCarthy 2006), especially the combination of the black grouse Lyrurus tetrix and the capercaillie Tetrao urogallus which has been well known in Scandinavia as early as 1744 (Johnsgard 1983).

Male hybrids between a male black grouse and a female capercaillie are the most common hybrids.

These male hybrids are observed most often on black grouse leks during spring, where they dominate and sometimes kill black grouse males (Andersen 2015), and are reproductively active (Porkert et al. 1997).

Black grouse females do not solicit copulations with hybrid males, however, female capercaillie do so (Porkert et al. 1997; Flor 2009).

The male is called Rackelhane och the female Rackelhen. “Rackel” is an old Swedish word for grunt, hawk and wheeze/ rattle and is refering to the birds caracteristic grunting, hawking and burping sound.

The word Rackelhane have been excist in writing since 1744 when Göran Adolf von Rutenschiöld describes the bird in the Proceedings of Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Göran Adolf von Rutenschiöld claimed that the bird was called Rackelhane in the Swedish provinces Småland och Västergötland.

The Proceedings of Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was published between 1739 and 1974. Abraham Gotthelf Kästner translated the text to German in 1751 and the German name for the bird is thus rackelhuhn, rackelhenne och rackelhahn.

Abraham Gotthelf Kästner

(27 September 1719 – 20 June 1800) was a German mathematician and epigrammatist.

He was known in his professional life for writing textbooks and compiling encyclopedias rather than for original research. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg was one of his doctoral students, and admired the man greatly. He became most well known for his epigrammatic poems. The crater Kästner on the Moon is named after him.

He also translated many volumes of the Proceedings of Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences into German, including all volumes of the Proceedings (Handlingar) between 1749 and 1781 and some volumes of New Proceedings (Nya handlingar) from 1784 to 1792.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in April 1789.

Description
The investigated specimen had several phenotypic characteristics of a capercaillie, like horn-white beak, brownish wings, greyish-black back, and a rounded tail with straight outer tail feathers. However, the breast feathers had a metallic blue/ violet colour more similar to black grouse, not greenish as in capercaillie

The bird weighed 3403 g, total wing length was 351 mm and length of central tail feathers was 230 mm.

Interesting information from European Journal of Wildlife Research (2020) 66: 35, “Backcrossing of a capercaillie × black grouse hybrid male in the wild revealed with molecular markers” click HERE

From Wikipedia and European Journal of Wildlife Research (2020) 66: 35, “backcrossing of a capercaillie × black grouse hybrid male in the wild revealed with molecular markers”