Backcountry Custom Taxidermy
Willow Ptarmigan
(Lagopus lagopus)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The thick, wide bill is a trademark of all willow ptarmigan, the largest of our three ptarmigan species. Another distinction is the white patch behind the male’s bill, lasting only two or three weeks in spring, before the chestnut plumage of early summer comes in. Only another ptarmigan can distinguish cocks from hens when willow ptarmigan are in winter plumage. Then, both sexes are white with black tail feathers. Beginning early in May the cocks develop a beautiful cape of chestnut-red feathers. They court the hens in this plumage, not completing the change to the brown summer plumage until the hens are nearly finished incubating the clutch of eggs.
No sooner does the male get this first set of dark chestnut feathers, however, than a new generation of lighter brown feathers grows on its neck and breast. This new set is never completed, because by early August the cock is beginning to grow white feathers for the coming winter plumage. In mid-August male ptarmigan are a patchwork of four sets of feathers; a few old winter feathers on the wings, new white feathers on toes and belly, and parts of the light spring and darker summer feathers.
Habitat
Like the other ptarmigan species, the willow ptarmigan nests in sparsely timbered or treeless areas. It favors willow-lined waterways, either on the coastal plains of western and northern Alaska or in subalpine areas throughout the rest of the state. Tall bushes are an important feature for willow ptarmigan. These birds choose wetter places and more luxuriant vegetation for breeding than the other two species of ptarmigan. In winter, willow ptarmigan remain close to shrubby slopes and valleys, but they seek out areas at lower altitudes than what they use during the breeding season.
Where to Find Them
In Southeast Alaska, several trails lead to ptarmigan country from roads close to Juneau. Willow ptarmigan are common along a 20-mile section of the Haines Highway through Chilkat Pass beginning 65 miles north of Haines.
A few miles north of Valdez, the Richardson Highway snakes its way to the crest of Thompson Pass in the Chugach Mountains and winds through good ptarmigan country for nearly 10 miles.
In the Alaska Range these birds can be found in willow thickets and shrub areas above treeline across the Denali Highway, along the Richardson Highway from Paxson to Black Rapids, and along the Parks Highway for several miles either side of Cantwell. Visitors to Denali National Park are likely to see families of willow ptarmigan at streams along the length of the park road. Further north, willow ptarmigan are occasionally seen at various places along higher parts of the Steese and Taylor Highways, both of which span mountains between the Tanana and Yukon Rivers.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Rock Ptarmigan
(Lagopus mutus)
Larger than whitetails and smaller than willows, rock ptarmigan develop their winter plumage early in October in central and northern Alaska, and are still predominantly white until early May. Cocks have a black mask from bill to ear in winter, effectively contrasting with their bright red, fleshy eyebrow and white body plumage. Most hens have no mask, but about one female in five has a partial black stripe fore and aft of the eye. As is the case in willow ptarmigan, both sexes have black tail feathers tipped with white. However, the rock ptarmigan’s much narrower bill clearly distinguishes it from the willow ptarmigan.
By early May, female rock ptarmigan begin to show their new, brown summer feathers on the crown and neck. When the hens begin incubating their clutch early in June, they are almost completely brown except for their white wings. Males keep the winter plumage until early June, then molt quickly to the finely-barred, dark brown summer plumage. However, the subspecies of rock ptarmigan found in the Aleutian Islands are an exception. There, the males actually begin getting brown feathers (almost black feathers in the near islands) in late March before the female plumage change.
Habitat
Rock ptarmigan breed on hilly or mountainous tundra throughout Alaska. They prefer slopes and high valleys where shin-high shrubs form a patchy pattern with low herbs and grasses. The summer range of rock ptarmigan often abuts willow ptarmigan range, with rock ptarmigan breeding on higher, drier, rockier ground. In winter most male rock ptarmigan are at the lower edge of their breeding range. The hens move to the hills fringing large valleys, where they spend the winter in shrubby, open habitat.
Several subspecies of rock ptarmigan live throughout the entire Aleutian Islands. On all except for Unimak Island, only one subspecies occurs on each island. These birds live in much different habitat than mainland birds. Aleutian rock ptarmigan range down to sea level, and are found on coastal grassy areas and on gentle to moderate slopes consisting predominantly of low forbes.
Where to Find Them
Rock ptarmigan can be seen in the same areas along the road system as willow ptarmigan, but are more common at higher elevations. Steep slopes above treeline along the Denali Highway and through Isabel and Thompson passes along the Richardson Highway support good populations of rock ptarmigan. Twelvemile and Eagle Summits on the Steese Highway, and Mount Fairplay on the Taylor Highway also are places where hunters, bird watchers, and photographers can expect to find rock ptarmigan.
Range of the Rock Ptarmigan in Alaska
Rock ptarmigan are found in nearly all treeless areas of Alaska except wet, coastal tundra. Recognizable differences in color and size have developed in places where ptarmigan live in isolated island situations. The classic example is on Alaska’s Aleutian Island chain, where seven subspecies of rock ptarmigan have been described; however, ongoing morphological and molecular research indicate that there are more likely only four subspecies
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
White-Tailed Ptarmigan
(Lagopus leucurus)
On the Seward Peninsula, willow ptarmigan can be seen anywhere along the isolated road system fanning out from Nome.
Willow ptarmigan also live in many areas far from the highway system in Alaska. Some “hot spots” to find willow ptarmigan are the mountains at the east end of the Skilak and Tustumena Lakes on the Kenai Peninsula, the northwest side of the Alaska Peninsula, the Kotzebue Sound region, and various places in the Brooks Range, notably Anaktuvuk Pass.
Range of the Willow Ptarmigan in Alaska
Willow ptarmigan have the widest range in Alaska of any upland game bird, although rock ptarmigan are a close second. The only big areas without willow ptarmigan are in the broad, forested valleys of the Interior (even there you can sometimes find willow ptarmigan in winter), the thick woods of Southeast Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands west of Unimak Island. Willow ptarmigan also live in Canada, Scotland, Scandinavia, and Russia.
Unlike the other two species of ptarmigan, the whitetail’s eight pairs of tail feathers are pure white. These feathers are a year-round trademark of the species, since whitetails molt only once each year, in midsummer. Whitetails are almost pure white in winter; even the shafts of the wing feathers are pale instead of black as in the other ptarmigan. The summer plumages of both male and female are quite different from the other species, the back feathers are much more finely barred (“vermiculated”) and the overall color tone is grayish instead of brown. Whitetails are the smallest of all the tetraonids, weighing only three-fourths of a pound when mature.
Habitat
White-tailed ptarmigan are true birds of the mountains. They live above timberline almost all year in the young mountain ranges of southcentral and southeastern Alaska, and many whitetails stay on the high slopes even in winter. In the breeding season they live in rugged country full of boulder fields, snowfields, glaciers, cliffs, and rockslides at higher altitudes than any other grouse or ptarmigan. This is the ptarmigan that Dall sheep hunters flush off high mountain peaks while stalking rams.
Plants on the summer range of white-tailed ptarmigan are low, prostrate, and often separated by patches of frost-heaved soil or rock. The birds usually move lower in late fall, spending the winter on slopes or in high valleys where alders, willows, birches, and occasional spruces project above the snow.
Where to Find Them
There are not many places in Alaska where people can see white-tailed ptarmigan in less than a few hours’ hiking. Some of the more accessible populations are on Mt. Juneau, Mt. Roberts, and at the heads of other valleys near Juneau, in Chilkat Pass (especially at miles 56–62 and at mile 90 Haines Road), at Rainbow Mountain (mile 209 Richardson Highway), in Thompson Pass north of Valdez, in Denali National Park, and near Independence Mine in Hatcher Pass north of Palmer.
Range of the White-Tailed Ptarmigan in Alaska
White-tailed ptarmigan are found only in western North America. They are the product of millions of years of evolution in rugged mountains, but do not compete successfully with other ptarmigan anywhere except in the rocky alpine. The five subspecies of whitetails range from the peaks range of the Rocky Mountains in extreme bird in Alaska northern New Mexico and Colorado (where they live at 12,000 – 14,000 feet), to Mount Rainer and Vancouver Island in the coastal mountains, to Southcentral Alaska and central Yukon.
Backcountry Taxidermy
Hunter's Guide
Loading
