Inchcruin

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 56.0861, -4.5949

Condition (NatureScot)

Unfavourable Declining (1)
UnitFeatureConditionArea (ha)Assessed
F1 Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), breeding Unfavourable Declining 2010-10-29

Climate exposure

This is about exposure to a nationwide pressure this habitat type carries — not a verdict on this site's own management.

Peatland

Peat habitats store centuries of carbon and depend on a stable, waterlogged water table. Warmer, drier summers dry out peat, making it far more vulnerable to wildfire and to carbon release — a pressure that can undo years of restoration work regardless of how well the site is otherwise managed.

Geology & landscape

Landscape processes: Peatland / Mire

Birds & fish recorded

Birds

SpeciesSeason
white-fronted goose Wintering

Description

Inchcruin Inchcruin is a small, low-lying wooded island in the southern part of Loch Lomond. The site is of national importance for its exceptionally high density population of capercaillie, a rare bird species of very restricted distribution in great Britain. This large woodland grouse is confined to native pine woodlands. While adult birds feed on cotton grass, cranberry and blueberry in the boggy parts of the island and on the shoots of Scots pine, the chicks need a diet rich in invertebrates, such as caterpillars living in the shrub layer. The UK capercaillie population has declined so rapidly that the bird is at risk of extinction and a 'Red List' species. In the late 1990s, Inchcruin held the highest density of capercaillie of any of the Loch Lomond islands, and the highest density of these birds found in Britain. Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus, breeding Greenland white-fronted goose Anser albifrons flavirostris, non-breeding

Species mentioned

English name
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Latin name
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IUCN / Red List Type Family
capercaillie Tetrao urogallus EN (Breeding) bird-game phasianidae
white-fronted goose Anser albifrons CR (NonBreeding) bird-goose anatidae