Willow Ptarmigan

Lagopus lagopus

Turns pure white in winter, brown in summer. Feathered feet act as snowshoes.

Population: ~40 million individuals (global)
Habitat: Subarctic and subalpine tundra, moorland, and heath, plus thickets of willow, birch, and alder scrub, sparse pine/birch forest, and arctic valleys/marshy tundra; year-round resident of harsh boreal/tundra climates (elevation range roughly 600-1,980 m where mountainous)
Fun fact: The Willow Ptarmigan is the only grouse species in the world in which the male regularly helps raise the chicks, with pairs sometimes staying together for up to seven months.
Range: Circumboreal — Alaska and northern Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia, and across Siberia/northern Russia and northern Mongolia; also occurs (as the Red Grouse subspecies) in Great Britain and Ireland
Diet: Omnivorous but predominantly herbivorous: leaves, flowers, buds, seeds, and berries in summer (plus insects, caterpillars, and beetles, especially for chicks), switching to ~94% willow/birch buds and twigs in winter
Size: 0.39 m
Wingspan: 0.62 m
Lifespan: 7 years

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