Behaviour
L. lagopus are hardy vegetarian birds, but insects are also taken by the hatchling young.
In all other species of grouse, only the female takes responsibility for the young. However, the male Willow Ptarmigan often takes responsibility of the young also, in particular in defending them against predators. A small minority of male Willow Ptarmigan are polygynous.
Widespread and not uncommon in its remote habitat, the Willow Ptarmigan is classified as a Species of Least Concern by the IUCN. He is migratory year round. The willow ptarmigan, since it lives on the tundra, makes his nest on the ground, and he builds a new nest every year.
Read more about this topic: Willow Ptarmigan
Famous quotes containing the word behaviour:
“The quality of moral behaviour varies in inverse ratio to the number of human beings involved.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“The methodological advice to interpret in a way that optimizes agreement should not be conceived as resting on a charitable assumption about human intelligence that might turn out to be false. If we cannot find a way to interpret the utterances and other behaviour of a creature as revealing a set of beliefs largely consistent and true by our standards, we have no reason to count that creature as rational, as having beliefs, or as saying anything.”
—Donald Davidson (b. 1917)
“I cannot be much pleased without an appearance of truth; at least of possibility—I wish the history to be natural though the sentiments are refined; and the characters to be probable, though their behaviour is excelling.”
—Frances Burney (1752–1840)