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Ptarmigan
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The Ptarmigan, Lagopus muta
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 (pte???), "wing", "feather" or "pinion"., is a medium-sized (31–35 cm or 12–14 inches long) gamebird in the grouse family. It is known as Rock Ptarmigan, or colloquially Snow Chicken or Partridge in North America, where it is the official bird for the territory of Nunavut, Canada and the official game bird for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
It is a sedentary species, breeding across arctic and subarctic Eurasia and North America (including Greenland) on rocky mountainsides and tundra.
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Encyclopedia
The Ptarmigan, Lagopus muta
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 (pte???), "wing", "feather" or "pinion"., is a medium-sized (31–35 cm or 12–14 inches long) gamebird in the grouse family. It is known as Rock Ptarmigan, or colloquially Snow Chicken or Partridge in North America, where it is the official bird for the territory of Nunavut, Canada and the official game bird for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
It is a sedentary species, breeding across arctic and subarctic Eurasia and North America (including Greenland) on rocky mountainsides and tundra. It is widespread in the Arctic Cordillera. 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 & Bochenski 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 with a more delicate bill.
The male's "song" is a loud croaking. Because of the remote habitat they inhabit they have only a few predators, such as Golden Eagles. They can be surprisingly tame and approachable.
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 taken by the developing young.
Ptarmigan meat is a popular part of festive meals in Icelandic cuisine. Hunting of Ptarmigans was banned in Iceland in 2003 and 2004 due to their declining population.
Sexual selection in males
Apart from the comb, the male Rock Ptarmigan has no ornaments or displays that are typical for grouses in temperate regions.
Studies on other grouses have shown that much variation in comb size and colour exists between the species, and that the combs are used in courtship display and aggressive interactions between males. Many studies such as have shown that there is a strong correlation between the comb size and the level of testosterone in males, and one report from 1981 showed that the amount of testosterone is correlated to aggressiveness against other males.
The male's comb has been the focus of studies regarding sexual selection. Studies of a population of male Rock Ptarmigans in Scarpa Lake, Nunavut, have shown that during the first year, mating success among males was influenced by comb size and condition, and bigamous males had larger combs than monogamous males. The correlation to size disappeared after the first year, but the correlation to comb condition remained. This is consistent with another study of the same population of L. muta that showed that mating success overall was correlated to comb condition. Exceptions were first-time breeders, in which the size of the comb influenced mating success.
Gallery
See also
Footnotes
External links
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- (worldwide); with world RangeMap
- on the Internet Bird Collection
- VIREO
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