White-tailed Ptarmigan
A species of Ptarmigans, Also known as White-tailed Grous Scientific name : Lagopus leucura Genus : Ptarmigans
White-tailed Ptarmigan, A species of Ptarmigans
Also known as:
White-tailed Grous
Botanical name: Lagopus leucura
Genus: Ptarmigans
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Richard Stephen Haynes , used under CC-BY-SA-4.0 /Cropped and compressed from original 
Description
The white-tailed ptarmigan is the smallest of the ptarmigans and the smallest bird in the grouse family. It is a stocky bird with rounded wings, square-ended tail, small black beak and short legs with feathering extending to the toes. Adults are 11.8 to 12.2 inches (30 to 31 cm) long, with the males being only slightly larger than the females. The average weight is 11.6 to 16.9 ounces (330 to 480 g). 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. 
Size
30-33 cm (12-13 in)
Colors
Brown
Gray
White
Life Expectancy
15 years
Nest Placement
Ground
Clutch Size
2 - 8 eggs
Feeding Habits
White-tailed Ptarmigan consumes a variety of alpine vegetation and insects. They forage on the ground and in shrubs for buds, stems, seeds, leaves, fruits, flowers, and seasonal insects, and perch to reach new foliage. Their diet shifts seasonally, with a preference for nitrogen-rich plants in spring and cellulose-rich twigs and seeds in winter. They rely on bacterial digestion and consume grit to aid with grinding food in the gizzard.
Habitat
White-tailed Ptarmigan favors the rocky alpine tundra of high-altitude mountains, thriving above the timberline and extending up to elevations surpassing 14,000 feet. This bird species is well-suited to the open, wind-swept landscapes with minimal vegetation, such as lichen-clad stones and stunted foliage. Habitats also include alpine meadows and shrub clusters, and they often utilize the scarce tree growth for cover. In harsh weather, white-tailed Ptarmigan may seek lower elevations with denser vegetation for protection.
Nest Behavior
The female white-tailed Ptarmigan selects the site, builds the nest, and does the majority of the incubation. Nest building and egg-laying timings are adapted to their high altitude, harsh environments, and the pair defends against predators together.
Nest Characteristics
White-tailed Ptarmigan constructs ground nests in locations with good visibility and several escape routes. The female creates a shallow depression, lining it with grass, leaves, and feathers, with a nest diameter of 5.9 inches and depth of 1.4 inches.
Dite type
Herbivorous
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Behavior
White-tailed Ptarmigan generally exhibit a lifestyle marked by territoriality and complex courtship displays. They engage in daily activities such as defending territories through vocalizations and physical confrontations. Males entice females with unique behaviors, including fanning their tail and dragging their wingtips. While females are less territorial, they still protect their nesting sites. White-tailed Ptarmigan pairs maintain proximity during courtship, but only the female is involved in incubation and chick rearing. These birds adapt to changing seasons, moving to different elevations for molting and feeding, showcasing their intricate interaction with the habitat.
Distribution Area
The white-tailed ptarmigan is an alpine species, a permanent resident of the high mountains above or near the timber line. It occupies open country and flies a great deal more than forest grouse, but still prefers running to flying. It ranges from Alaska and western Canada south to northern New Mexico. Males return from their wintering areas to establish territories on spruce-willow timber line breeding grounds in April. Females arrive in early May and pairs are formed. 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. The white-tailed ptarmigan was introduced into the Sierra Nevada of California, Wallowa Mountains in Oregon, and Uinta Mountains of Utah in the 1970s. It may have been native here during the early Pleistocene but became locally extinct due to climate changes with greater snow-cover in spring impacting on its breeding season. Alternatively, it may have been unable to colonize the Sierra Nevada because of the barriers provided by the Columbia River and the Great Basin, and the low altitudes of the intervening South Cascades.
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Scientific Classification
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