Rock Ptarmigan

Lagopus mutus (Montin, 1781)

		summer winter
2011-06-24 Uryl', Southern Altai 2008-05-30 Eastern Kazakhstan. Saur.	© Raffael Ayé © Alexandr Zhdanko

Distribution

Breeds in mountain tundra with stony looses on Southwest Altai and in Saur ridge.

Biology

Rare resident. Inhabits alpine tundras with a lot of stones and scarce vegetation at 2000-2700 m. Breeding biology is known very poorly. Begins to nest in end May or early June, the nest with 4 eggs was found 12 June 2004. Small chicks observed in end June – mid-July. Vertical movements to this species were not registered.

Subspecies

References

Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005. Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". Алматы, 1999. В.К.Рябицев. "Птицы Урала, Приуралья и Западной Сибири". Екатеринбург. Изд-во Уральского университета, 2000.