Rock ptarmigan

Lagopus muta

Group: Upland birds
Size class: Small (under 10 kg)
Family: Phasianidae

Range

Europe
North America
Arctic

Habitat

Tundra
Mountain

Range

Countries it is found in

22 countries

Andorra
Austria
Canada
Finland
France
Germany
Greenland
Iceland
Italy
Japan
Kazakhstan
Liechtenstein
Monaco
Norway
Russia
Slovenia
Spain
Svalbard & Jan Mayen
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States

Range from:Wikipedia country bird lists, GBIF occurrence records — read 2026-08-05

Chapter 01

Overview

The rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) is a medium-sized game bird of the grouse tribe, known simply as the ptarmigan in Europe. It is the official bird of Nunavut, where it is the aqiggiq, and the official game bird of Newfoundland and Labrador. In Japan it is the raichō, 'thunder bird', official bird of Gifu, Nagano and Toyama prefectures and a protected species nationwide. The species name muta is Neo-Latin for 'mute', after the male's simple croaking song.

Chapter 02

Identification

34–36 cm long with an 8 cm tail and a 54–60 cm wingspan, weighing 440–640 g — about ten per cent smaller than the willow ptarmigan. It is camouflaged to the season, moulting from white in winter to grey and brown in spring and summer. The breeding male has greyish upperparts with white wings and underparts. In winter the plumage turns completely white except for the black outer tail feathers and the black eye line, which is the mark that separates it from a willow ptarmigan in the same country.

Chapter 03

Behaviour

Largely sedentary, particularly in isolated southern populations such as Japan and Scotland, which manage no more than limited altitudinal movement to lower, more sheltered ground in winter. Further north it disperses more, and in the Arctic the movements are considerable — birds have been found wintering in Iceland with Greenland-origin minerals in their gizzards, having crossed the 300 km Denmark Strait, and one ringed in summer on Disko Island off western Greenland was recovered over 1,000 km away. Food varies enormously by region. In Alaska the winter staple is aspen buds and dwarf birch and willow buds and catkins, shifting in spring to crowberry and lingonberry. The greatest variety comes in early summer — willow leaves, the leaves and flowers of mountain avens and locoweed — with berries, bistort seeds and birch buds from late summer.

Field data

Tracks

A photograph of real sign left by Rock ptarmigan. Prints vary with gait, ground and how long they have been there — treat this as one example, not a template.

Track photo:Louis Backstrom CC BY

On the table

Meat & cooking

Table grade 5 of 55/5

Sold as meat in a legal market
Has a named traditional dish
Published way to handle and cook it
Eaten in more than one country
No known health advisory

Traditional preparations

Icelandic festive ptarmigan: Rock ptarmigan meat is a popular part of festive meals in Icelandic cuisine. Hunting was banned there in 2003 and 2004 over a declining population and has been allowed again since 2005 on selected days revised yearly, with all trade in the bird illegal. Grouse — Wikipedia
Salmis: The classic French treatment of game birds — roasted briefly, then jointed and finished in a sauce built from the carcass. Salmis — Wikipedia

Sources

Sources: Rock ptarmigan — Wikipedia — read 2026-08-05

Cross-reference