Willow ptarmigan

Willow ptarmigan
Adult Alaskan willow ptarmigan (L. l. alascensis) in summer plumage, Denali National Park
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Genus:	Lagopus
Species:	L. lagopus
Binomial name
Lagopus lagopus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Willow Grouse range[2]
Synonyms
Lagopus albus Lagopus medius Woldřich, 1893 Tetrao lagopus Linnaeus, 1758

The willow ptarmigan (/ˈtɑːrmɪɡən/ TAR-mi-gun); Lagopus lagopus) is a bird in the grouse subfamily Tetraoninae of the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is also known as the willow grouse. The willow ptarmigan breeds in birch and other forests and moorlands in northern Europe, the tundra of Scandinavia, Siberia, Alaska and Canada, in particular in the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec. It is the state bird of Alaska.

In the summer the birds are largely brown, with dappled plumage, while in the winter they are white with some black feathers in their tails. The species has remained little changed from the bird that roamed the tundra during the Pleistocene. Nesting takes place in the spring when clutches of four to ten eggs are laid in a scrape on the ground. The chicks are precocial and soon leave the nest. While they are young, both parents play a part in caring for them. The chicks eat insects and young plant growth while the adults are completely herbivorous, eating leaves, flowers, buds, seeds and berries during the summer and largely subsisting on the buds and twigs of willow and other dwarf shrubs and trees during the winter.