At one time it could be found in all the taiga forests of the Palearctic in the cold temperate latitudes and the coniferous forest belt in the mountain ranges of warm temperate Europe. The Scottish population became extinct, but has been reintroduced from the Swedish population; in Germany it is on the Red List as a species threatened by extinction and is no longer found in the lower mountainous areas of Bavaria; in the Bavarian Forest, the Black Forest and the Harz mountains numbers of surviving western capercaillie decline even under massive efforts to breed them in captivity and release them into the wild. In Switzerland, they are found in the Swiss Alps and in the Jura; they are also present in the Austrian and Italian Alps. The species is extinct in Belgium. In Ireland it was common until the 17th century, but died out in the 18th. In Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia and Romania populations are large, and it is a common bird to see in forested regions; especially in Central Finland, that it occurs in the coat of arms of the region and is also a regional bird.