Rock Ptarmigan

Overview

The rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) is a medium-sized game bird in the grouse tribe, known simply as the ptarmigan in Europe. It serves as the official bird of the Canadian territory of Nunavut and the official game bird of Newfoundland and Labrador, while also being a protected species in Japan where it is called the raichō, or 'thunder bird'.

Identification

• 34–36 cm long with a wingspan of 54–60 cm, approximately ten percent smaller than the willow ptarmigan.
• Plumage is highly seasonal, moulted to white in winter (with black outer tail feathers and eye lines) and greyish upper parts with white underparts in summer.
• Characterised by a slender bill and feathered legs, with breeding males featuring black lores.
• Males produce guttural snores and rattles, culminating in a rasping 'ah-AAH-ah-AAAAH' call during aerial displays that resembles a stick pulled across a picket fence.

Habitat

This sedentary species breeds across Arctic and Subarctic Eurasia and North America, including Greenland, preferring rocky mountainsides and tundra. It maintains isolated mountain populations in Scotland, the Pyrenees, the Alps, and Japan, and can be surprisingly approachable due to having few predators in its remote habitat.

Diet

Dietary preferences vary by region and season, shifting from aspen, dwarf birch, and willow buds in winter to crowberries, cowberries, willow leaves, and Dryas flowers in spring and summer. Chicks also consume insects, larvae, and snails, while the species relies on frequent foraging due to a limited capacity for fat storage.

Did you know?

In Japan, the rock ptarmigan is known as the raichō, meaning 'thunder bird', and is the official bird of the Gifu, Nagano, and Toyama prefectures. In Iceland, its meat is a traditional part of festive meals, though hunting is strictly regulated to selected days each year.