Overview
As the smallest grouse in North America, the White-tailed Ptarmigan is about 12 inches in length and weighs between 11 to 17 ounces. This bird molts for a seasonal color variation, having a white body in the winter and a brown mottled body with white wings, tail and belly in the summer months. This bird’s name is derived from the fact that it is the only Ptarmigan that does not have a black tail. It can be found in a wide range of alpine forests in Alaska and a few high elevations in the lower 48.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Bird
- Family
- Phasianidae
- Genus
- Lagopus
- Species
- leucura
Habitat
The white-tailed ptarmigan is the only bird in North America to reside permanently in the alpine zone. Its habitat includes areas of boulders, krummholz, snowfields, rock slides, frost-heaved soil and upland herbage. Even in winter it stays in high valleys and mountain slopes where alder, willow, birch and spruce poke through the snow cover.
Diet
This herbivorous bird's diet varies seasonally. Nitrogen-rich snow buttercup leaves are favored in the spring season, while willow catkins, mountain avensflowers, and chickweed blooms, other flowers and leaves, lichens and berries form the majority of the ptarmigan's diet in the summer. Once fall and winter arrive in the region, the ptarmigan feeds on pine needles, seeds, willow and alder buds and twigs. Winter food sources have a much higher cellulose content than does summer forage, so the ptarmigan relies on bacteria-aided digestion in the cecum to extract essential nutrients. During the summer, the ptarmigan eats grit to assist in digesting plant material.
Behavior
During the summer, the white-tailed ptarmigan is a speckled grayish brown with white underparts, tail and wings. In the fall, the plumage has turned a much more reddish-brown color and white feathers begin to grow through. By winter all the summer brown feathers are lost and the bird is completely white. A further molt in the spring precedes the breeding season and the bird returns to its summer plumage. The finely-barred greyish coloration on the back makes it easy to distinguish this species from the much browner willow ptarmigan and rock ptarmigan. Both sexes maintain white tail and wing feathers all the year and males can be identified by their reddish eyecombs(fleshy growths above the eye), also present year-long. In general this bird is silent but it sometimes makes quiet, low-pitched hoots and soft clucking noises.
Hunting
Mainly pursued in driven hunts with dogs. Hunters will walk in a line across the field. Also hunted cross country with a dog.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by IUCN.