Rock Ptarmigan on snow
Rock Ptarmigan is related to but much less abundant than the Willow Ptarmigan that also occurs in the areas of Canada’s Northwest Territories that we visited. The only Rock Ptarmigan we saw were at some late-lying snowbanks beside the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway. They were there for purposes of camouflage, since they had not yet molted to their brownish summer breeding plumage. Rock Ptarmigan is the official bird of Nunavut, the territory to the east of NWT (from which it was split in 1999). This species also occurs in Eurasia.
Rock Ptarmigan on snow
Rock Ptarmigan is related to but much less abundant than the Willow Ptarmigan that also occurs in the areas of Canada’s Northwest Territories that we visited. The only Rock Ptarmigan we saw were at some late-lying snowbanks beside the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway. They were there for purposes of camouflage, since they had not yet molted to their brownish summer breeding plumage. Rock Ptarmigan is the official bird of Nunavut, the territory to the east of NWT (from which it was split in 1999). This species also occurs in Eurasia.