BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Lagopus muta
Rock Ptarmigan
| Scientific Name: | Lagopus muta (Montin, 1781) | ||||||||||
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| Scientific Name Synonyms: |
Lagopus mutus
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| English Name: | Rock Ptarmigan | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 2000. Forty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 117:847-858 | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Taxonomy Comments: | Changed from L. mutus to L. muta as per 45th Supplement AOU Update (Feb 21, 2005 DDW). | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | B-ROPT | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S4S5 (Mar 2015) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Migratory Bird Convention Act: | |||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Breeding begins from late May to early June. Female incubates 5-10, sometimes 3-12, eggs for 21-23 days (also reported as 24-26 days, Harrison 1978). Nestlings are precocial and downy. Young initially are tended by both parents; later only by female. Young can fly at 10-15 days, independent at 10-12 weeks. | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | Males may leave family groups and gather in flocks; females and young stay together during the summer but join other family groups to form winter flocks (Harrison 1978). In high arctic, territory size may be as large as 2.5 sq km (see Johnson and Herter 1989). | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
Y / Y / N / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | Partially migratory. Small numbers regularly winter south of breeding range. Some birds seasonally migrate between higher and lower elevations in the mountains. | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Alpine/Tundra / Alpine/Subalpine Meadow / Unknown
Alpine/Tundra / Tundra / Unknown Grassland/Shrub / Meadow / Unknown Grassland/Shrub / Shrub - Natural / Unknown Riparian / Gravel Bar / Unknown Riparian / Riparian Herbaceous / Unknown Riparian / Riparian Shrub / Unknown Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Cliff / Unknown Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Unknown Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Talus / Unknown Stream/River / Stream/River / Unknown |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Open tundra, barren and rocky slopes in Arctic and alpine areas, and relatively barren heaths and moors (AOU 1983). Nests on tundra, barren and rocky slopes in Arctic and alpine areas. The nest is a scrape lined with grasses, plants and a few feathers. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Granivore: Adult, Immature
Herbivore: Adult, Immature Invertivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | During summer, diet primarily leaves, buds, fruit, seeds, mosses, insects, and spiders. In winter, feeds on seeds, buds, and twigs. (Terres 1980). Birch and alder comprise bulk of diet in winter in central Alaska; Empetrum and Equisetum dominate diet on Amchitka (Emison and White 1988). | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 36/ / 425 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Circumpolar. Arctic Ocean islands south in Eurasia to Iceland and locally in the mountains to Scotland, France, Spain, Austria, central Asia, and northern Japan; and in North America south to southern Alaska, northern Canada, and southern Greenland. | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Apr 11, 1996 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp. |
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Bergerud, A. T., and M. W. Gratson, editors. 1987. Adaptive strategies and population ecology of northern grouse. Univ. Minnesoat Press. 785 pp. |
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Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, et al. 1990b. The Birds of British Columbia Vol. 2: Nonpasserines: Diurnal Birds of Prey through Woodpeckers. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, BC. |
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Ellsworth, D. L., R. L. Honeycut, and N. J. Silvy. 1995. Phylogenetic relationships among North American grouse inferred from restriction endonuclease analysis of mitochondrial DNA. Condor 97:492-502. |
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Emison, W. B., and C. M. White. 1988. Foods and weights of the rock ptarmigan on Amchitka, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Great Basin Nat. 48:533-540. |
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Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. |
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Johnsgard, P.A. 1983b. The grouse of the world. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE. xvi + 413 pp. |
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Johnson, S. R. and D. R. Herter. 1989. The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. 372 pp. |
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Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1996. Species Summary: Lagopus muta. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Sep 20, 2026).