Lagópodo Alpino

Identificación

The rock ptarmigan is 34–36 cm (13–14 in) long with an 8 cm (3.1 in) tail and with a wingspan of 54–60 cm (21–24 in) and a weight of .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}440–640 g (15+1⁄2–22+1⁄2 oz). It is smaller than the willow ptarmigan by about ten percent.<p>The rock ptarmigan is seasonally camouflaged; its feathers moult from white in winter to brown in spring or summer. The breeding male has greyish upper parts with white wings and under parts. In winter, its plumage becomes completely white except for the black outer tail feathers and eye line. It can be distinguished from the winter willow ptarmigan by habitat and markings—the rock ptarmigan prefers higher elevations and more barren habitat. It also has a slender bill and a black eye stripe, which is absent in the willow ptarmigan.

Taxonomía

The rock ptarmigan has 23 recognized subspecies:

Nombre científico

Lagopus muta

Autoridad

(Montin, 1781)

Orden

Galliformes

Familia

Fasiánidos

Género

Lagópodo

Distribución y hábitat

The rock ptarmigan is a sedentary species which breeds across Arctic and Subarctic Eurasia and North America (including Greenland) on rocky mountainsides and tundra. It is widespread in the Arctic Cordillera and is found in isolated populations in the mountains of Norway, Sweden, Scotland, the Pyrenees, the Alps, Bulgaria, the Urals, the Pamir Mountains, the Altay Mountains, and Japan—where it occurs only in the Japanese Alps and on Mount Haku. Because of the remote habitat in which it lives, it has only a few predators—such as golden eagles—and it can be surprisingly approachable. It has been introduced to New Zealand, South Georgia, the Kerguelen Islands, and the Crozet Islands.<p>The small population living on Franz Josef Land in the Russian High Arctic overwinters during the polar night and survives by feeding on rich vegetation on and underneath high cliffs where seabird colonies are located in summer.<p>During the last ice age, the species was far more widespread in continental Europe.

Migración

Migración vertical

Comportamiento

Patrón migratorio: Migración vertical.

Conservación

Tendencia poblacional: en declive.

Tendencia poblacional

en declive