Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Galliformes > Phasianidae > Lagopus > Lagopus leucura

Lagopus leucura (White-tailed Ptarmigan)

Synonyms: Lagopus leucurus; Tetrao leucurus (homotypic)

Wikipedia Abstract

The white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), also known as the snow quail, is the smallest bird in the grouse family. It is a permanent resident of high altitudes on or above the tree line and is native to Alaska and the mountainous parts of Canada and the western United States. It has also been introduced into the Sierra Nevada in California, the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon and the Uinta Mountains in Utah. Its plumage is cryptic and varies at different times of the year. In the summer it is speckled in gray, brown and white whereas in winter it is wholly white. At all times of year the wings, belly and tail are white. The white-tailed ptarmigan has a diet of buds, leaves, flowers and seeds. The nest is a simple depression in the ground in which up to 8 eggs are laid. After hatching, the
View Wikipedia Record: Lagopus leucura

Infraspecies

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
2
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
19
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 6.43456
EDGE Score: 2.00614

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  349 grams
Birth Weight [3]  13 grams
Breeding Habitat [2]  Alpine tundra
Wintering Geography [2]  Non-migrartory
Wintering Habitat [2]  Alpine tundra
Diet [4]  Herbivore
Diet - Plants [4]  100 %
Forages - Ground [4]  100 %
Female Maturity [1]  1 year 6 months
Male Maturity [3]  1 year
Clutch Size [5]  6
Clutches / Year [3]  1
Global Population (2017 est.) [2]  2,000,000
Incubation [3]  23 days
Mating Display [6]  Ground display (mostly)
Mating System [6]  Monogamy
Maximum Longevity [3]  15 years
Snout to Vent Length [1]  13 inches (33 cm)

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

Ecosystems

Prey / Diet

Prey / Diet Overlap

Predators

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Ceratophyllus garei[9]

Range Map

External References

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
1Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
2Partners in Flight Avian Conservation Assessment Database, version 2017. Accessed on January 2018.
3de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774
4Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
5Jetz W, Sekercioglu CH, Böhning-Gaese K (2008) The Worldwide Variation in Avian Clutch Size across Species and Space PLoS Biol 6(12): e303. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060303
6Terje Lislevand, Jordi Figuerola, and Tamás Székely. 2007. Avian body sizes in relation to fecundity, mating system, display behavior, and resource sharing. Ecology 88:1605
7del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
8Exploring the Denali Food Web, ParkWise, National Park Service
9International Flea Database
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0