Welcome! I’ve had a lot of luck finding ptarmigan this year which means that their numbers are likely on the upswing of their population cycle. Last year I had a hard time finding any so I’m happy to see the little snow chickens return.
No one has ever claimed that ptarmigan are the smartest birds in the avian world however they do have a few clever tricks in their repertoire. One thing they do to throw off predators is to fly straight into a snowbank. Sounds dumb but they don’t leave any tracks this way and there is no scent trail to follow. Pretty smart for a small-brained bird!
Ptarmigan are essential food for many predators including lynx, owls, fox, coyotes, wolves and others. A healthy population of ptarmigan means other animals benefit from higher populations. We’ve had odd weather this winter with wild temperatures shifts from day to day and week to week. Transitioning between these temperatures can be difficult as it can affect how active prey species are. Ptarmigan seem relatively unaffected by temperature swings so they are an important food source when others are scarce.
These chubby little birds are fun to watch as they are quite the balancing acrobats. They jump off the ground to reach willows that are just a little too high for them and they can walk across the thinnest of branches without having to hold tiny umbrella!
I hope you enjoy these images of ptarmigan and I hope to share more of these with you throughout the winter.