Species
| Living species of Lagopus | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Common and scientific names | Image | Description | Range and status |
| Willow Ptarmigan (also Willow Grouse and Red Grouse) Lagopus lagopus Linnaeus, 1758 |
|
Summer: marbled brown and reddish with black tail and white underparts; winter: most subspecies have white plumage except for black tail. | 10-20 subspecies. Circumarctic range in forest and moorlands of northern Eurasia and North America. Status: Least Concern. |
| Rock Ptarmigan Lagopus muta Montin, 1781 |
|
Summer: grey and brown upperparts; winter: white plumage. Distinguish from Willow Ptarmigan by habitat – higher elevations and more barren ground. | 20-30 subspecies. Arctic and subarctic Eurasia and North America on rocky mountainsides and tundra. Status: Least Concern. |
| White-tailed Ptarmigan Lagopus leucura Richardson, 1831 |
|
Summer: greyish-brown and speckled; winter: white plumage. Males identifiable by reddish eyecombs. The smallest Ptarmigan. | Alpine areas above the timberline in North America from Alaska and western Canada to New Mexico. Status: Least Concern. |
The distinctive British form of Willow Ptarmigan, the Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica) has sometimes been considered a separate species, L. scotica, but this is no longer accepted.
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