Alaska State Bird - Willow Ptarmigan
The Alaska State bird is the Willow Ptarmigan, or sometimes called the Willow Grouse, since it’s a very close species to many of the forest and prairie grouses. While there are three different species of ptarmigan, only the Willow Ptarmigan is the Alaska State bird. The other two, the Rock Ptarmigan and the White-tailed Ptarmigan live in Canada, Scandinavia, Scotland, Northern Eurasia and the Alaskan Range, Yukon, Washington and in the North of New Mexico respectively.
All About the Alaska State Bird
The Willow Ptarmigan live in Alaska’s plentiful treeless areas where land is high. This particular ptarmigan isn’t relegated to Alaska alone; the Willow also resides in much of Canada and in many countries in northern Europe like Scotland.
The Willow Ptarmigan resembles a chicken in appearance and at first glance may be mistaken as one. In fact, they mostly look like small grouses and average around one pound in weight, but can be a little lighter or heavier. Their feathers are white, even in the winter, so they can blend in with snow as part of a defense tactic if threatened. The Willow Ptarmigan also have feathered toes and wings that house white feathers throughout the year.
The Willow part of the name comes from what the Willow Ptarmigan typically eats in the winter. Almost anything from a willow tree, like the buds and twigs, are eaten. Sometimes, this bird will also eat birch, but mostly, they stick with food from the willow tree. Now when summer hits, the Ptarmigan moves to bugs, leaves and flowers. A favorite food of the Willow Ptarmigan is the caterpillar and this diet changes back to the food from trees when fall hits, since the population of insects drops dramatically.
The males have a large red comb over their eyes. The females also have a red comb, but it is distinctly small. Some females also have a reddish-brown body with occasionally black or white spots embedded in the color, which is determined by the molt stage she is in. The males are very territorial, especially when winter is over. It is not uncommon for male ptarmigan to fight with other males just to keep them off their territory by having flying chases and noise attacks, which is really meant for domination.
The Willow Ptarmigan move around in the winter. Wherever there is food is where the ptarmigan will nest. This could be for a few days or for the entire migration period. Usually, you’ll find that Willow Ptarmigans don’t shift more than 150 miles from their normal home in the summer.
Population Lifestyle
The actual number of Willow Ptarmigan vary year over year. The Ptarmigan in Ireland usually grow in large numbers about every 10 years or so, but in Alaska, it isn’t known why the Willow Ptarmigan are low in numbers one year and in huge abundance the next year or two. There are a number of theories on this, but nothing proven. Experts know that if there is a small amount of offspring born one year, then over the next couple of years, the population of the Willow Ptarmigan is light. Conversely, the more chicks that are born, the better the numbers the next couple of years because those same ptarmigan will mature into breeding Willows within the year.
Fun Facts
- The Rock and Willow Ptarmigans look almost alike, since they have the same coloring and sport similar sizes. The only difference? The Willow Ptarmigan have a larger bill and, if you can get this close, the Rock Ptarmigan appear to have black eyeliner.
- Alaska named the Willow Ptarmigan as the Official State Bird in 1955.
- The Latin name for the Willow Ptarmigan is Lagopus lagopus alascensis Swarth.