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Common name
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Rock Ptarmigan
Lagopus muta
09-10 / 02-28
The Rock Ptarmigan is a medium-sized (31–35 cm or 12–14 in.) gamebird in the grouse family. It is known as Rock Ptarmigan, or colloquially Snow Chicken or Partridge in North America, where it is the official bird for the territory of Nunavut, Canada, and the official game bird for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. A sedentary species, the Rock Ptarmigan breeds across arctic and subarctic Eurasia and North America (including Greenland) on rocky mountainsides and tundra. It is widespread in the Arctic Cordillera and is found in isolated populations in the mountains of Scotland, the Pyrenees, the Alps, Bulgaria, the Urals, the Pamir Mountains, the Altay Mountains and Japan. During the last ice age, the species was far more widespread in continental Europe. The Rock Ptarmigan is seasonally camouflaged; its feathers moult from white in winter to brown in spring or summer. The breeding male has greyish upper parts with white wings and underparts. In winter, its plumage becomes completely white except for the black tail. It can be distinguished from the winter Willow Grouse (Willow Ptarmigan in North America) by habitat — the Rock Ptarmigan prefers higher elevations and more barren habitat; it is also smaller with a more delicate bill. The male's |
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