



GROUSE (from top): 



Blue, Sooty, Franklin's, Ruffed, and Sharp- 

 tailed Grouse; Rock and Willow Ptarmi- 

 gan. Below: White-tailed Ptarmigan. 



^ jrlt^4JS^ 



and calls for fast and accurate 

 shooting. 



Ptarmigan — Largest of the ptar- 

 migan and most widely distributed 

 of Alaska's game birds is the wil- 

 low ptarmigan, found from the 

 arctic tundra to Southeastern 

 Alaska. In winter, these birds are 

 almost pure white, with the excep- 

 tion of the black tail feathers. 

 Kock ptarmigan, usually smaller 

 than the willow, are found at 

 higher elevations. They may be 

 distinguished from the willow by 

 a black line from the bill to the eye. 

 White-tailed ptarmigan, smallest 

 of the group, are found around 

 Mount McKinley, Cook Inlet, and 

 Glacier Bay. They inhabit the 

 high peaks and are rarely seen at 

 low elevations. These birds are en- 

 tirely white in winter, without the 

 black tail feathers of the rock and 

 willow ptarmigan. 



Grouse — The blue grouse, some- 

 times called sooty grouse, dusky 

 grouse, or hooter, is Alaska's larg- 

 est upland game bird, weighing as 

 much as 3i^ pounds. It is dis- 

 tributed throughout Southeastern 

 Alaska from Glacier Bay to British 

 Columbia, and may be identified by 

 its large size and dark grayish 

 color. Franklin's grouse, smaller 

 and darker than the blue grouse, 

 is in Southeastern Alaska from 

 Prince of Wales Island southward. 

 The spruce grouse ranges widely 

 from Kenai Peninsula north to the 

 Yukon River drainages and east to 

 the border. The ruffed grouse is in 

 the Yukon and Kuskokwim drain- 

 ages in the Interior, and in the Taku 

 and Stikine drainages in South- 

 eastern Alaska. The sharp-tailed 



42 



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