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Rock ptarmigan

High up in the mountains, a croaking sound can be heard. This is the strange call of the rock ptarmigan. This mountain specialist has made its home where ‘no one would believe that someone could live’, as the name of a well-known Norwegian television show puts it, and is found at higher altitude than its near relation the willow ptarmigan. The male ptarmigan is called a cock, while the female is a hen.

Rock ptarmigan facts

Latin: Lagopus mutus
Family: Pheasant family (Phasianidae)
Length: 40 cm
Wingspan: 55 – 66 cm
Weight: 450 – 650 grams
Breeding season: May – June
Number of young: 9 – 14

How does the rock ptarmigan live?

The rock ptarmigan looks similar to the willow ptarmigan, but is grey rather than brown in colour. It can be harder to tell them apart in winter, but their feet are different. The rock ptarmigan has dark feet, while those of the willow ptarmigan are pale. The male rock ptarmigan, or cock, also has a black streak between his beak and eyes, which is absent in the willow ptarmigan. These small differences can be difficult to spot at a distance. It can often be easiest to tell the two species apart by the sound they make. The willow ptarmigan’s cackle is very different to the rock ptarmigan’s rattling call. 

The rock ptarmigan’s breeding season starts in May, when the males will establish territories. As the high mountains have less food in relation to area, male rock ptarmigans have much larger territories than willow ptarmigans. A single cock can have a territory of up to a square kilometre. The rock ptarmigan makes it’s nest on the ground, and when the chicks hatch, they stay with the mother, who is in sole charge of bringing them up. The brood stays together until they disperse as autumn approaches. The rock ptarmigans will now gather in large ptarmigan flocks. This is a good strategy for making it less likely that they will be caught by a predator. Individual flocks are harder to find than individual birds, and if they are found, there is less chance of being selected as prey! 

What does the rock ptarmigan eat?

It can seem almost impossible for anything to survive in the barren high mountains. But the rock ptarmigan finds food there. The little ptarmigan chicks mainly eat small insects and spiders. As they grow, they switch over to buds and shoots on various herbs, heather, willow and dwarf birch. In winter, the rock ptarmigan has to find food on windswept ridges, where the crowberry can poke through the snow, or eat the buds on willow and dwarf birch. If there is too much snow and ice, the ptarmigans may have to come a little way down the mountain to find food in the mountain birch forests and willow thickets. 

Where does the rock ptarmigan live?

As the name suggests, the rock ptarmigan lives in the mountains. It is mainly found at altitudes above 1,200 metres, but can be found lower down in some areas. In Finnmark, for example, it is possible to find rock ptarmigans at just 100 metres above sea level. The rock ptarmigan is found in the high mountains throughout the country.