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This article deals with the European species named "Ptarmigan" known in North America as the Rock Ptarmigan. For the Willow Ptarmigan, see Willow Grouse; see also White-tailed Ptarmigan.

Ptarmigan
Two raichou (Lagopus muta japonica) in autumn plumage
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Galliformes Family: Tetraonidae Genus: Lagopus Species: L. muta
Binomial name
Lagopus muta (Montin, 1781)
Subspecies
some 20-30, including: L. m. muta (Montin, 1781) Scandinavian Ptarmigan L. m. rupestris (Gmelin, 1789) Canadian Rock Ptarmigan L. m. helvetica (Thienemann, 1829) Alpine Ptarmigan L. m. japonica H. L. Clark, 1907 Japanese Ptarmigan L. m. millaisi Hartert, 1923 Scottish Ptarmigan
Synonyms
Tetrao mutus Montin, 1781 Lagopus mutus (lapsus, see below)

The Ptarmigan, Lagopus muta^[1], is a medium-sized (31-35 cm or 12-14 inches) gamebird in the grouse family. It is known as Rock Ptarmigan, or colloquially Snow Chicken in North America, where it is the official bird for the territory of Nunavut, Canada.^[2]

It is a sedentary species, breeding across arctic and subarctic Eurasia and North America (including Greenland) on rocky mountainsides and tundra. There are isolated populations in the mountains of Scotland, the Pyrenees, the Alps, Bulgaria, the Urals, the Pamir Mountains, the Altay Mountains and Japan. During the last ice age, the species was far more widespread in continental Europe (Tomek & Bocheński 2005).

The Ptarmigan is seasonally camouflaged; its feathers moult from white in winter to brown in spring or summer. Breeding males have greyish upper parts with white wings and underparts. In winter, plumage becomes completely white except for the black tail. They can be distinguished from the winter Willow Grouse (Willow Ptarmigan in North America) by habitat - Rock Ptarmigan prefer higher elevations and more barren habitat; they are also smaller in size with a more delicate bill.

The male's "song" is a loud croaking.

Ptarmigan feed primarily on birch and willow buds and catkins when available. They will also take various seeds, leaves, flowers and berries of other plant species. Insects are also taken by the developing young.

In the mountains of Honshū, Japan, the Ptarmigan is called raichou (literally "thunder bird") and according to legend protects people and buildings from fire and thunder.

Alpine Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta helvetica), summer plumage

Bird in winter plumage

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Lagopus muta

• BirdLife International (2004). Lagopus muta. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• David, Normand & Gosselin, Michel (2002): The grammatical gender of avian genera. Bull. B. O. C. 122(4): 257-282.
• Tomek, Teresa & Bocheński, Zygmunt (2005): Weichselian and Holocene bird remains from Komarowa Cave, Central Poland. Acta zoologica cracoviensia 48A(1-2): 43-65. PDF fulltext

1. ^ Etymology: The Ptarmigan's genus name, Lagopus, is derived from Ancient Greek lagos (λαγως), meaning "hare", + pous (πους), "foot", in reference to the bird's feathered legs (see also Snowshoe Hare). The species name muta comes from New Latin and means "mute", referring to the simple croaking song of the male. It was for a long time misspelt mutus, in the erroneous belief that the ending of Lagopus denotes masculine gender. However, as the Ancient Greek term λαγωπους is of feminine gender, and the species name has to agree with that, the feminine muta is correct (David & Gosselin 2002).
   The word ptarmigan comes from the Scottish Gaelic tàrmachan, which may be related to torm "murmur". The silent initial p was added in the 17th century through the influence of Greek, especially pteron (πτερον), "wing", "feather" or "pinion".
2. ^ Government of Nunavut. The Rock Ptarmigan (LAGOPUS MUTUS) Official Bird of Nunavut. Retrieved on 2007-04-27.

• Alpine Ptarmigan - Hribi.net
• Page from the Grouse Specialist Group
• Stamps: Rock Ptarmigan (worldwide); with world RangeMap
• Ptarmigan videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• RSPB
• Rock Ptarmigan-Lagopus muta photo gallery VIREO

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Game Birds:	Common Pheasant · Grey Partridge · Red-legged Partridge · Red Grouse · Ptarmigan · Black Grouse1 · Woodcock · Snipe ·
Quarry Species	Mallard · Teal · Woodpigeon · Golden Plover · Canada Goose · Greylag Goose · Pink-footed Goose · White-fronted Goose2 · Wigeon · Tufted Duck · Shoveler · Pintail · Gadwall · Pochard · Goldeneye · Moorhen · Coot ·
Deer:	Red Deer · Roe Deer · Fallow Deer · Sika Deer · Muntjac Deer · Chinese Water Deer
Other Quarry:	Hare · Red Fox · Rabbit ·
See Also:	BASC · Hunting in the United Kingdom · Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust · Game Act 1831 · Countryside Alliance · Glorious Twelfth · Gamekeeper · 1 Rarely shot due to declining numbers. 2 England and Wales only; protected Scotland.