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Rock Ptarmigan in Hunted Areas Took Flight From Farther Away During the Hunting Season

Rock ptarmigan in brown summer plumage on rocky ground in Iceland
Research · Behaviour

Rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) in hunted areas of Iceland and the Italian Alps became more sensitive to approaching people during the hunting season, according to a field study published in February 2026. Researchers measured flight initiation distance — how close a walking observer could approach before a bird took flight — at paired hunted and non-hunted sites.

The study recorded 287 approaches in Iceland between October and December 2018: 178 at the hunted site near Húsavík and 109 in a hunting-free area. In Italy, 102 approaches were recorded between August and December 2019, with 55 in the hunted Valtellina area near Livigno and 47 inside Stelvio National Park, where hunting has long been prohibited.

Flight distance increased rapidly when hunting began

At the hunted sites in both countries, flight initiation distance increased around the start of the hunting season. The authors describe a two- to three-fold increase within one to two weeks of the season opening, followed by a decline toward earlier levels. The corresponding response remained relatively stable at the non-hunted sites. Physical cover also influenced the response: birds partly concealed by nearby rocks or shrubs allowed the observer to approach more closely before taking flight. The authors interpret this as a trade-off between relying on concealment and escaping early.

The authors interpret the repeated pattern in the two isolated populations as a rapid behavioural response to hunting pressure. They note that increased avoidance of people during hunting periods can also affect encounters between ptarmigan and non-hunting recreationists.

Sources and image credit

  1. Sooth, F., Nielsen, Ó. K., & Storch, I. (2026). Behavioural responses of a gamebird to human encounters across the hunting season. Wildlife Biology, 2026, e01535. https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01535Primary open-access research article first published 2 February 2026. A pedestrian observer conducted 287 experimental approaches to rock ptarmigan at hunted and non-hunted sites in Iceland and 102 in Italy. Flight initiation distance increased around and during the hunting season at hunted sites and declined afterwards, while remaining comparatively stable at non-hunted sites.

Image: Boaworm / Wikimedia Commons — wild rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) in summer plumage on Snæfellsnes, Iceland, 25 June 2011; representative Icelandic species image. · CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ · Source

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