{"id":6222,"date":"2020-11-06T10:00:53","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T17:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joelkoop.com\/updates\/?p=6222"},"modified":"2020-11-05T10:10:06","modified_gmt":"2020-11-05T17:10:06","slug":"ptarmigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joelkoop.com\/updates\/2020\/11\/06\/ptarmigan\/","title":{"rendered":"Ptarmigan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are some empty mountainsides.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If it wasn’t for the movement I probably wouldn’t have seen these ptarmigan right in front of me. The first one was in a group of five and they were VERY busy getting calories to keep themselves warm. The second was on the same trip, but at a lower elevation – this flock had not changed as many feathers to white yet. The third I saw when the chicks were taking dust baths: shaking their feathers and sending little plumes of dust up into the air.<\/p>\n

Way up in the tundra near MacKay Lake they were much easier to see but we usually heard them first. Sometimes ptarmigan are silent, but when they’re talkative it’s great! I don’t have a recording, but here’s one from Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https:\/\/zcu.io\/HODg<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fun fact: It takes ptarmigan about 3 weeks to change from their brown summer plumage to their white winter feathers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Although they can fly, they often walk – in winter they need really good insulation on their feet. When it gets really cold, they will bury themselves in snow to stay warm. I’ve seen places where ptarmigan have dive-bombed the snow to bury themselves, have a nap right there, and then when they wake up, they poke their head up and walk away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are some empty mountainsides. If it wasn’t for the movement I probably wouldn’t have seen these ptarmigan right in front of me. The first one was in a group of five and they were VERY busy getting calories to keep themselves warm. The second was on the same trip, but at a lower elevation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[736],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wildlife-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t