Lagopus leucura
The White-tailed Ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura) is a captivating alpine specialist, renowned as the smallest of the three North American ptarmigan species, typically measuring 30-33 cm (12-13 in) in length and weighing 350-500g (0.7-1.1 lbs). Its most striking feature is its remarkable seasonal plumage transformation: entirely pure white in winter with only black eyes and beak, transitioning to a mottled gray-brown and black in summer, yet always retaining distinctively white tail feathers and w...
Exclusively inhabits high alpine and subalpine tundra, rocky slopes, and krummholz zones, typically found above the tree line.
Primarily herbivorous, feeding on buds, catkins, leaves, and new shoots of alpine plants like willow, dwarf birch, and heather, supplemented with berries and occasionally insects in summer. They forage by browsing and gleaning on the ground, often digging through snow.
White-tailed Ptarmigan are primarily diurnal, active during daylight hours, often roosting in snow burrows or protected rocky outcrops during severe weather. They are ground-feeding herbivores, employing a foraging strategy of browsing on buds, catkins, and leaves, and adeptly digging through sno...
The White-tailed Ptarmigan's range is confined to the high alpine and subalpine regions of western North America. Its breeding distribution extends from Alaska and the Yukon Territory south through the mountain ranges of British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Ut...
Least Concern
- The White-tailed Ptarmigan is the only bird in North America that remains entirely white in its winter plumage, including its tail. - They are the smallest of the three ptarmigan species found globally (White-tailed, Willow, and Rock Ptarmigan). - Their feet are densely feathered, acting like n...