at hatching but are not able to maintain their body temperature which is in birds. In cold and rainy weather the chicks need to get warmed by the hen every few minutes and all night. They seek food independently and prey mainly on insects, like butterfly caterpillars and pupae, ants, myriapodae, ground beetles. They grow rapidly and most of the energy intake is transformed into the protein of the flight musculature (the white flesh around the breast in chickens). At an age of 3–4 weeks they are able to perform their first short flights. From this time on they start to sleep in trees on warm nights. At an age of about 6 weeks they are fully able to maintain their body temperature. The down feathers have been moulted into the immature plumage and at an age of 3 months another moult brings in their subadult plumage; now the two sexes can be easily distinguished. From the beginning of September the families start to dissolve. First the young cocks disperse, then the young hens. Both sexes may form loose foraging groups over the winter. Predation and hunting Mammalian predators known to take capercaillie include Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) and gray wolf (Canis lupus), although they prefer slightly larger prey. Meanwhile, European pine martens (Martes martes), beech martens (Martes foina), brown bears (Ursus arctos), wild boars (Sus scrofa) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) take mostly eggs and chicks but can attack adults if they manage to ambush the often wary birds. In Sweden, western capercaillies are the primary prey of the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). Large numbers are taken by northern goshawks (Accipiter gentilis), including adults but usually young ones, and Eurasian eagle-owls (Bubo bubo) will occasionally pick off a capercaillie of any age or size; they normally prefer mammalian foods. White-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) are more likely to take water birds than upland-type birds but have been recorded preying on capercaillie around the White Sea. A traditional gamebird, the capercaillie has been widely hunted with guns and dogs throughout its territory in central and northern Europe. This includes trophy hunting and hunting for food. Since hunting has been restricted in many countries, trophy-hunting has become a tourist resource, particularly in central European countries. In some areas, declines are due to excessive hunting, though this has not generally been a global problem. The bird has not been hunted in Scotland or