Ptarmigan with its white, winter plumage in Swansea Gulch, April 2024. Photo credit Wesley Berg
Ptarmigan with its summer plumage along the shore of Silver Lake, August 2024 Photo credit Wesley Berg
White-tailed ptarmigan are a small, tubby-looking grouse. They are the only North American bird to live year-round in the high-elevation alpine tundra (though they move to lower elevations in response to weather and seasonal changes). While I have come across ptarmigans in the San Juans on several occasions, I have only encountered them at elevations well above Silverton, which is at 9318 feet. Th…
