The Black Grouse are rare birds

The helpers from Ruthin, Denbigh, Mold, Holywell and Wrexham will be up with the lark to monitor Black Grouse on the Clwydian Range in Denbighshire.

The birds are normally secretive, but on spring days the males gather at communal sites for a mating ritual.

The cadets will monitor their numbers at Moel Famau Country Park near Mold on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Dominant males

At dawn, the birds perform their mating displays known as a lek to attract females.

Leks usually involve five to 10 male birds, but can include up to 30.

The birds crouch low and fluff up their white undertail coverts, raise their lyre-shaped tails, inflate their necks and jump in the air, making a soft, bubbling call.

The dominant males in a lek manage to mate most often with the visiting hens.

Piercing shrieks that are part of the display can be heard from up to 2km.

This is an excellent opportunity for the squadron....this is an area we all know well Flight Lieutenant Anne Hynes

Denbighshire councillor Gwyneth Kensler said it is important to record the number of birds in the region.

"There are areas of the Clwydian Range that have never been surveyed before for Black Grouse," she said.

"Although we have an idea of the sorts of places they might be it's a large area to cover and we couldn't do it without this help."

There has been a dramatic decline in the numbers of Black Grouse in Wales throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Native area

At one point the number of males dropped to below 140 but now there are around 180 pairs estimated to be in Wales.

Between 1990 and 1996 the birds came close to extinction when their numbers dropped by 75%.

Black grouse live on moorland and in forestry and native woodlands - mostly in upland areas.

As well as Wales, their habitat is also northern Scotland.

Anne Hynes, Flight Lieutenant of the Air Training Corps, said the cadets were looking forward to their dawn call.

"This is an excellent opportunity for the squadron....this is an area we all know well," she said.