Ptarmigan

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(In North America, "ptarmigan" can also refer to the White-tailed Ptarmigan and to the Willow Ptarmigan or Willow Grouse.)

The Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta or mutus, p is silent) is a small (31–35 cm long) bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, breeding across arctic and subarctic Eurasia and North America (including Greenland) on rocky mountainsides and tundra. There are isolated populations in the mountains of Scotland, the Pyrenees, the Alps, Bulgaria, the Urals, the Pamir Mountains, the Altay Mountains, and Japan.

In America it is called the Rock Ptarmigan, or colloquially Snow Chicken. This is the official bird for the territory of Nunavut, Canada.

The Eurasian spring male has greyish upperparts with white wings and underparts. North American birds are more variable, being generally browner, but in some Aleutian populations almost black. The North American females are brown. In winter, both sexes' plumage becomes completely white except for the black tail. They can be distinguished from the winter Willow Grouse (Willow Ptarmigan in North America) by habitat, smaller size, more delicate bill and, in the winter male, black between the eye and bill.

The male's song is a loud croaking.

These are hardy vegetarian birds, as insects are also taken by the developing young.

The female takes all responsibility for nesting and caring for the chicks, as is typical with gamebirds.

The word ptarmigan comes from the Scottish Gaelic tàrmachan, which may be related to torm "murmur". The silent initial p was added in the 17th century through the influence of Greek, especially pteron, Greek for "wing".

Scientific name

The Ptarmigan's genus name, Lagopus comes from the Greek lagos, meaning "hare", and pus, meaning foot. It refers to the bird's feathered legs. The species name mutus comes from Latin and means "mute", referring to the loud croaking song of the male.

References

BirdLife International (2004). [Lagopus muta]. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

[Page from the Grouse Specialist Group]
[Ptarmigan videos] on the Internet Bird Collection

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