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Willow Ptarmigan (male breeding plumage)

Lagopus lagopus

Published on Project Noah
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63.2319, -151.041

Field Notes

Description:

Beautiful bronze-brown breast and back with white underside and legs. There is a white ring around the eye. The video shows this male slowly moving across the road.
The female and chicks can be seen at my other spotting: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/35702014

Habitat:

Along dirt road through Taiga forest at Denali National Park and Preserve

Reference Links:

Willow Ptarmigan, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (3)
The MnMs
May be they confuse the cars with bisons, bears or caribous, which normally do not chase them for food (well, the bear, maybe). I guess their major threat may come from smaller animals like foxes and from the air (raptors) so for them other sizes and shapes are not so alarming :-)
CindyBinghamKeiser
Hi Marta, thank you so much! I was on a bus, hanging out of the window with a huge lens. I'm sure it was quite comical for the wildlife to see :) All of the Ptarmigan seemed to think we couldn't see them crossing the road. The wildlife seem to just ignore cars until a person gets out.
The MnMs
Nice finding Cindy! was it difficult to approach the ptarmigan? I like her feathery legs :-)
Photographed
PublishedAugust 3, 2013

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