Willow Ptarmigan

Willow Ptarmigan, male, breeding plumage

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Willow Ptarmigan, adults, nonbreeding plumage

Willow Ptarmigan, female, breeding plumage

Willow Ptarmigan, female, breeding plumage; Churchill, Manitoba.

Menu

1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Reproduction
8. Conservation Status
9. Other Names

A typical bird of the arctic tundra, the Willow Ptarmigan is the largest and most numerous of the three ptarmigan species.

Cool Facts

• The subspecies of Willow Ptarmigan living in Great Britain is known as the "Red Grouse." It does not change its coloring in the winter, but remains entirely reddish brown throughout the year.

• The Willow Ptarmigan is the only grouse in the world in which the male is regularly involved in parental care. Pairs remain together from the beginning of the breeding season until their chicks are independent.

Description

• Size: 35-44 cm (14-17 in)
• Wingspan: 60-65 cm (24-26 in)
• Weight: 430-810 g (15.18-28.59 ounces)

Medium to large chicken-like bird. Thick bodied. Tail moderately short, rounded, and black. Completely white in winter. Barred rusty brown in summer. Wings white.

Red to pink eye combs (not always visible). Feathered toes. Small dark bill.

Sex Differences

Sexes similar, especially in winter when both are all white with black tails. Breeding male with rufous-brown head and neck, white body, and distinct red eye combs; back eventually becomes brown and barred. Breeding female brown all over with dark barring, and with less distinct eye combs.

Immature

Similar to adult.

Similar Species

• Rock Ptarmigan has smaller bill, is grayer, lacks reddish tones, and some have black eyestripe in winter plumage.
• White-tailed Ptarmigan is smaller and has all-white tail (difficult to see).

Sound

Clucking calls. Male in display makes odd, nasal barking notes and rattles.

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Resident across Alaska and northern Canada, reaching to central British Columbia. Also across northern Eurasia.

Habitat

Open tundra, especially in areas heavily vegetated with grasses, mosses, herbs, and shrubs, less frequently in openings in boreal coniferous forest.

Reproduction

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Completely covered with dense down, eyes open. Leave nest within six to 12 hours after the last egg hatches.

Conservation Status

Common and widespread.

Other Names

Le Lagopéde des saules (French)
Willow Grouse (British), Red Grouse (part) (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

Hannon, S. J., P. K. Eason, and K. Martin. 1998. Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus). In The Birds of North America, No. 369 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.