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Willow Ptarmigan

Willow Ptarmigan

Lagopus lagopus

Identify the Willow Ptarmigan by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Willow Ptarmigan, or Willow Grouse, is a hardy grouse of subarctic and subalpine Eurasia and North America. It changes from mottled reddish-brown in summer to all white in winter, keeping a black tail. It nests on the ground, and unusually among grouse both parents care for the chicks. It is the state bird of Alaska.

Did you know?

  • Its scientific name, Lagopus, means “hare-footed”, referring to its feathered feet.
  • It often turns white well before the first lasting snow.

Voice

Sound

About the species

Identification

A medium-sized grouse (35–43 cm, 500–800 g). In summer the male is rufous-brown with black spots and the female barred buff and black; the underwings and belly are white. In autumn the plumage starts turning white before the snow arrives, and in winter it is all white except for the black tail. It is easily confused with Rock Ptarmigan; the Willow Ptarmigan is larger with a thicker bill, lacks the male Rock Ptarmigan's black lore stripe in winter, and its cackling calls differ from the Rock Ptarmigan's croaking. It usually lives lower, below the shrub line.

Family

Phasianidae

Size

Large (crow)

Colours

white, brown, black, red

About the habitat

Subalpine and subarctic habitats – sparse birch and pine woods, bog edges, willow and alder thickets, heaths and tundra; in winter it moves into birch and willow scrub.

Diet

Adults are wholly herbivorous: shoots, buds, leaves, flowers and berries such as bilberry and crowberry in summer, and buds and twigs of willow and birch in winter. Chicks eat insects and tender new growth.

Behaviour

A ground-dwelling grouse that trusts its camouflage, flushing with a short, noisy burst and soon landing to walk away. Males give loud, barking and rattling display calls in spring. It nests in a simple ground scrape, and the precocial young leave the nest quickly, guarded by both parents. In winter it gathers in flocks in willow and birch scrub.

Sources

Photo: Robbie Hannawacker, Public domain https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A ptarmigan (cc09ce00-060b-45a6-bb30-b857702266ce).jpg

Sound: Unknown, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_Grouse_(Lagopus_lagopus)_(W1CDR0001407_BD28).ogg

Text: Wikipedia (English) + GBIF regional observations + Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0; GBIF occurrence data; Wikipedia: CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_ptarmigan

See also