The Willow Ptarmigan is a widespread and abundant resident of subalpine, subarctic, and arctic shrub habitats. Much of its range lies north of regularly surveyed areas, with the result that monitoring data are sparse and not wholly reliable. However, available results from the Christmas Bird Count suggest that the population may have undergone a moderate decrease since about 1970, although the reliability of this assessment is considered to be low.
Despite a possible decrease in population, there are few major conservation concerns for this species. Willow Ptarmigan are harvested by sport- and subsistence-hunters, but much of the range is sparsely populated and the species has high rates of reproduction (Bergerud and Huxter 1969, Hannon et al. 1998). Climate change scenarios predict an increase in the abundance of shrub habitats (ACIA 2005), which may benefit the species. However, recent population declines in some ptarmigan populations are likely due to a change in the predator-prey interactions as a result of climate change (Henden et al. 2017).
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:
Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.
