Record Ptarmigan Numbers and a Good Breeding Year for Alaska’s Gyrfalcons
Surveys on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula recorded the highest ptarmigan numbers in eleven years of monitoring. Gyrfalcons also had…
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News about Rock Ptarmigan
Research, conservation and important developments connected to this species.
Svalbard Ptarmigan and Golden Hamsters Shared a TSH Pathway for Seasonal Timing
A comparison of neuroendocrine tissue in summer- and winter-like states found the same core TSH seasonal-timing pathway in…
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Dry Weather and Snow-Covered Ground Improved Genetic Monitoring From Rock Ptarmigan Droppings
Only 103 of 338 spring fecal samples yielded usable genotypes, but a 2026 study identified field and laboratory…
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Rock Ptarmigan Kept a Narrower Diet as Willow Ptarmigan Expanded Its Spring Niche in Central Norway
At Lifjellet, DNA metabarcoding showed that willow and rock ptarmigan shared many food plants but used them in…
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Acoustic Activity Index Tracked Svalbard Rock Ptarmigan Changes Alongside Manual Surveys
An index based on male calling activity during the ten most active April days closely followed year-to-year and…
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Infrared Fingerprints Identified Rock Ptarmigan Food Plant Parts With 96.7% Test Accuracy
Using 296 pure plant fractions from crops of 236 Icelandic rock ptarmigan, an infrared-spectroscopy model identified plant parts…
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Kidney Oxalate Deposits Found in a Quarter of Icelandic Rock Ptarmigan Examined
A 13-year survey of wild rock ptarmigan in Iceland found kidney oxalate deposits in 25.3% of 1,263 birds…
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Japanese Rock Ptarmigan Has a Distinct Mitochondrial Lineage That Diverged About 80,000–120,000 Years Ago
Complete mitochondrial genomes from 18 preserved specimens—16 from Japan and two comparative birds from outside Japan—combined with control-region…
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Rock Ptarmigan in Hunted Areas Took Flight From Farther Away During the Hunting Season
Experimental approaches to rock ptarmigan in Iceland and Italy found that flight initiation distance rose rapidly after hunting…
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