Lagopus muta

The rock ptarmigan is a small to medium-sized bird, with a body length of 36-40 cm. In the grouse family, it is a medium-sized bird with short and round wings. The wing pattern is 3>4>2>5>6>1. The 3rd and 4th flight feathers are the longest, and the 1st is longer than the 2nd. Very short; except for the first one, the bases of the primary flight feathers are notched; there are 16 tail feathers, the tail is moderately long, the end is slightly rounded, the central tail feather is slightly higher than the other tail feathers; the axillary feathers are very long; in summer, the upper body is black Brown with yellow-brown markings and a white narrow edge on the feather tips. The throat and chest are sandy yellow with dark brown horizontal spots. The lower body is white, the tail is dark brown, and the tip has a narrow white edge. The feet and toes are covered with white feathers. In winter, both male and female birds are white, but their tails are black. There is a wide blac

Distributed in Andorra, Austria, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Greenland, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Mongolia, Norway, Russian Federation, Russian Federation, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Spain, Svalbard and Jan Mayen Island, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, United Kingdom, United States.
Introduced: Faroe Islands; Migrant bird: Bulgaria.
The only Xinjiang subspecies in China is found in the Altai Mountains in Xinjiang Altay, Qinghe, Fuyun, Burqin, Fuhai, Habahe and other places.
The rock ptarmigan inhabits alpine coniferous forests, dwarf birch shrubs below the snow line, small semi-shrub desert steppes, subalpine meadows, and alpine meadows with scattered gravel. It can also live in alpine meadows above 2500 meters. It is a bird that lives in the tundra and forest-steppe areas near the Arctic. In addition to the Arctic tundra, tundra shrub forest, and rocky meadow areas, it also inhabits alpine coniferous forests, alpine and subalpine meado

Rock Ptarmigan has 25 subspecies.

Rock Ptarmigan is mostly active in groups except during the breeding season, mostly in small groups of 3-5, and sometimes even up to 100 in winter. It mainly moves on the ground, and roosts in snow caves at night in winter. It flies quickly, but not far. It lives in groups in autumn and winter, up to hundreds of them. Its call is a rough kuh, kuh, kwa-kwa-kwa, or the male bird calls arr, arr fiercely. Its food mainly consists of birch, willow, and tender branches, buds, tender leaves, flowers, berries, seeds and fruits of various shrubs and herbs.

The breeding season of the rock ptarmigan is from June to August. After arriving at the breeding ground, the male birds first divide the territory, and each of them keeps singing and flying in their own territory. At the same time, the fleshy crown above the eyes swells and the color becomes a brighter blood red. If other male birds invade, they will immediately fly over with their fleshy crowns erected and tail feathers open to drive them away. They are very territorial. When the female bird is attracted to its territory by its courtship call, it will run over with its neck arched, tail feathers cocked, wings half-opened, and head extended toward the female bird to show courtship. The female bird lowers her head, slightly opens her wings, and stretches her body downward. Then the male bird jumps onto the female bird's back and bites the feathers on the back of her neck to mate. Each male bird can mate with 2-3 female birds. After mating, the female bird starts to nest alone, usually in the male bird's territory. The nest is mostly built in the alpine tundra rich in shrubs or near the rocks on the hillside, often hidden by rocks or shrubs. The nest is relatively simple, with 6-13 eggs per nest. The eggs are ochre in color with dense chestnut spots. The incubation period is 24-26 days. After hatching, the chicks move with their parents to the higher, moist and warm hillside areas, and form a larger group.

The real threat to the survival of the rock ptarmigan is all kinds of birds and beasts, because with the skills of the rock ptarmigan, except for escaping, there is no chance of victory. Just like the snowy owl, skuas, etc., they can almost easily deal with the rock ptarmigan. In nature, the rock ptarmigan is basically at the bottom of the food chain like lemmings, and everyone who sees them wants to exploit them.

Listed in the "Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union" (IUCN) 2016 ver 3.1-Least Concern (LC).

Listed in the second level of the "List of National Key Protected Wildlife in China".

Protect wild animals and stop eating game.

Maintaining ecological balance is everyone's responsibility!