ptarmigan

(also known as ‘rock ptarmigan’, ‘snow chicken’, ‘partridge’ in North America; pronunciation: the letter ‘p’ is silent, i.e. the letter ‘p’ is not pronounced while saying this word, and the letter ‘g’ rhymes with the letter ‘g’ in the word “gun” — for the right pronunciation of ptarmigan, please click here)

ptarmigan in different states of plumage

a kind of bird – (mostly) ground-bird – game bird (= hunted for sport or food) – related to the ‘grouse’ family – medium-sized plump body with brown or brownish-grey (barred in some species) colour feathers in summer and complete white in winter (the males in breeding season have greyish upper part with white wings and under parts; the white-tailed ptarmigan has a white tail in all seasons), small head with relatively small pointed black beak (bill), short legs with feathers to the feet; feeds on (eats) plan matter, and (mostly young ones) insects; size: 1-1½ feet long, and weight: 450 grams to 1 Kg; lives for 3-5 years; several species (20-30) found across Arctic region, sub-Arctic Eurasia and North America

Some common ptarmigans are: rock ptarmigan, willow ptarmigan, white-tailed ptarmigan, Scandinavian ptarmigan, Canadian rock ptarmigan, Alpine ptarmigan, Scottish ptarmigan

A group of ptarmigan is called a ‘covey’.

Special Features:
The ‘willow ptarmigan’ (or ‘willow grouse’) is the state bird of Alaska, USA.

The ‘rock ptarmigan’ is the official bird for the territory of Nunavut, Canada; and the province bird of the provinces Gifu and Toyama, Japan.

white in winter

White-tailed ptarmigan is the smallest of all the ptarmigans.

Ptarmigans change their feather colour depending on the season: brown or greyish-brown in summer and partly brown and partly white in spring and autumn and complete white in winter!

Ptarmigans have feathers on their legs and feet, especially in winter.