10 THE A UD)U BONS U DDE Tay 
WILLOW PTARMIGAN (Lagopus lagopus alascensis) 
By Anna C. Ames 
Only four species of ptarmigan are known: the White-tailed, the Rock, the 
Willow, and the Red Grouse of the British Isles. Until Alaska joined the 
Union, the White-tailed Ptarmigan was the only one of this family in 
the United States. Now the Willow Ptarmigan is the state bird of Alaska. 
It is the largest and heaviest of the ptarmigan, with a noticeably large, 
heavy bill. 
Ptarmigan are tame and unsuspicious during the summer and early 
fall. Once on a high slope of Mt. Evans (Colorado), I saw two birds on the 
ground, apparently resting. They were practically motionless, and one 
of them actually allowed me to pick it up. This White-tailed Ptarmigan 
did protest somewhat at my examination of it. The White-tail ranges south- 
ward in the Rocky Mountains as far as New Mexico, but presumably is 
restricted to the bleak Alpine meadows above timberline. Ptarmigan dwell 
in arctic wastes or high mountain ranges and therefore are seldom seen 
even by those greatly interested in birds. 
The most unusual fact about ptarmigan is the seasonal change of 
plumage color of the American birds. In summer they are brown with 
some white, and in winter they are pure white except for black eyes and 
bills. (The Rock Ptarmigan retains a black mark from eye to bill.) Hence 
they are camouflaged against their worst enemies, the Snowy Owl and the 
Arctic Fox. The Goshawk and the wolf also prey upon nest and young. 
Ptarmigan assume their summer plumage by a gradual moult correlated 
with the disappearance of the patches of snow in the mountains in the 
spring. Females often moult a little earlier in the spring than the males. 
Feet and legs are heavily feathered in the winter. 
The Willow Ptarmigan is the most northerly of the four species of 
ptarmigan. It is completely circumpolar and is widely distributed around 
the arctic barren lands of both continents and the arctic islands south- 
ward into the willow scrub of the subarctic. The Willow Ptarmigan is a 
bird of the snow. Sometimes it scratches a hole in the snow and settles 
down for a rest. In stormy weather it flies down into the snow to escape 
the wind and to sleep. It is a bird of much vitality and of strong, swift, 
direct flight. It has been known to outdistance a pursuing Goshawk. 
Various birds nest in the dwarf forest of the arctic tundra. but in 
winter the ptarmigan alone remains, often buried in the snow. Ptarmigan 
are among the most sedentary of birds, yet they have a particularly in- 
hospitable habitat in winter. Few other birds could survive in it. Willow 
Ptarmigan are resident wherever found. They are said to make a vertical 
migration, as they prefer the open tundra and barren slopes in summer and 
sheltered valleys in winter. In autumn many birds leave their breeding 
grounds and fly south for hundreds of miles. A bird may occasionally reach 
the northern border of the United States, but if so, it has ventured far 
south of the main body of its kind. 
Ptarmigan are the most thoroughly monogamous of all the grouse. 
During the mating season the male is very noisy; his calls and hoots may 
be heard on all sides. He is most demonstrative between 10 p. m. and 
2 a. m., when there is the least daylight. The female has a harsh danger 
signal. Like many other birds of plain and tundra, the male ptarmigan 
has a flight song. 
