Ptarmigan (Lagopus Mutus)

A pair in Winter plumage (top) and autumn plumage (bottom).The Male is standing.

From the book Sporting Birds of the British Isles,David & Charles 1984.

map'It has been suggested that when the sun's fire burns low and ice creeps further across the earth the ptarmigan will be the last bird left alive,and indeed there is a great deal in this for the species has evolved to live at inhospitable altitudes which would soon kill most creatures'.

Painting by Roger McPhail

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