Rock Ptarmigan Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesRock Ptarmigan
Breeding male
Stocky, chickenlike grouse with a short bill and tail. Breeding males have a red eyebrow and are mottled brown with a white belly.
© Caleb Putnam / Macaulay LibraryScotland, August 15, 2018Nonbreeding male
Stocky, chickenlike grouse with a short bill and tail. Males and females are white in the winter with black outer tail feathers. Males have a more pronounced red eyebrow and a black stripe in front of the eye.
© Cameron Eckert / Macaulay LibraryYukon Territory, May 25, 2015Nonbreeding male
Found in arctic and alpine tundra even during the nonbreeding season. Males and females molt out of their muted brown plumage in summer into white plumage for the winter.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryNunavut, June 18, 1997Breeding female
Breeding females are mottled in brown and black with a small red eyebrow.
© Ian Davies / Macaulay LibraryAlaska, June 06, 2012Nonbreeding adult
Males and females turn white in the winter. They have black outer tail feathers that are usually only visible in flight.
© Andrew Spencer / Macaulay LibraryAlaska, May 24, 2013Similar SpeciesWillow Ptarmigan
Male
Willow Ptarmigans have a cinnamon head and neck not dark brown like Rock Ptarmigans.
© Mike V.A. Burrell / Macaulay LibraryOntario, June 22, 2013Similar SpeciesWillow Ptarmigan
Female
Female Willow and Rock Ptarmigans are very similar and are not easily separable. Willow Ptarmigans have a stouter bill than Rock Ptarmigans. Females are warmer brown than Rock Ptarmigans.
© Alex Lamoreaux / Macaulay LibraryAlaska, May 14, 2017Similar SpeciesWillow Ptarmigan
Nonbreeding adult
In the winter, Willow Ptarmigans lack the black stripe in front of the eye that Rocks have. They also have a stouter bill than Rock Ptarmigans.
© John & Ivy Gibbons / Macaulay LibraryNewfoundland and Labrador, April 02, 2017Similar SpeciesWhite-tailed Ptarmigan
Adult male
Males are generally paler than Rock Ptarmigans and have an entirely white tail (no black outer tail feathers).
© Chris Wood / Macaulay LibraryColorado, October 01, 2015Similar SpeciesWhite-tailed Ptarmigan
Breeding female
Female White-tailed Ptarmigans have yellowish speckling on the breast while female Rocks have barred breasts.
© Steve Collins / Macaulay LibraryColorado, July 07, 2011Similar SpeciesWhite-tailed Ptarmigan
Molting adult
White-tailed Ptarmigans have an entirely white tail while Rock Ptarmigans have black outer tail feathers.
© Andrew Spencer / Macaulay LibraryColorado, April 29, 2015Similar SpeciesSpruce Grouse
Male
Male Spruce Grouse have a black breast band and gray head that male Rock Ptarmigans lack. Found in dense spruce forests not open tundra.
© Luke Seitz / Macaulay LibraryMaine, May 09, 2011Similar SpeciesSpruce Grouse
Female
Female Spruce Grouse are more heavily barred brown and white than female Rock Ptarmigans. Found in dense spruce forests not open tundra.
© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryAlaska, May 20, 2012Compare with Similar Species
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Species in This Family
Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies(Order: Galliformes, Family: Phasianidae)
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