White-tailed Ptarmigan
(Lagopus leucura)

Overview

Summary

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The White-tailed Ptarmigan breeds in alpine habitats at or above the timberline. Its distribution in Canada includes much of British Columbia and southern Yukon, and smaller portions of Alberta and the Northwest Territories. Population trends for the species are monitored with the Christmas Bird Count, and results suggest large declines relative to early 1970s. Precision of the trend estimate is poor but the magnitude of the decline is large, leaving little doubt of substantial population change. The species is harvested across much of its North American range. It is threatened by climate-induced changes to its high-alpine breeding habitats. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

White-tailed Ptarmigan are hunted in Canada (except the Vancouver Island subspecies, L. l. saxatilis), and harvested populations have notably altered age structures (Braun and Rogers 1971). The species is also potentially locally affected by roads and development in alpine areas (Braun et al. 1993). Perhaps the most significant future threat is the alteration of high-altitude habitats by climate change (Martin and Wiebe 2004).

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Braun, C.E. and G.E. Rogers. 1971. The White-tailed Ptarmigan in Colorado. Colorado Division of Game, Fish, and Parks. Technical Publication No. 27. 80 pp.
• Braun, C.E., K. Martin and L.A. Robb. 1993. White-tailed Ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Braun, C.E., K. Martin and L.A. Robb. 1993. White-tailed Ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)
• Martin, K. and K.L. Wiebe. 2004. Coping mechanisms of alpine and arctic breeding birds: extreme weather and limitations to reproductive resilience. Integrative and Comparative Biology 44:177-185.