Lagopus lagopus
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The willow ptarmigan ( TAR-mi-gən; Lagopus lagopus) is a bird in the grouse tribe Tetraonini of the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is also known as the willow grouse. The willow ptarmigan breeds in birch and other forests and moorlands in northern Europe, the tundra of Scandinavia, Siberia, Alaska, and Canada, in particular in the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec. It is the state bird of Alaska.
In the summer, the birds are largely brown, with dappled plumage, while in the winter, they are white with some black feathers in their tails. The species has remained little changed from the bird that roamed the tundra during the Pleistocene. Nesting takes place in the spring when clutches of four to 10 eggs are laid in a scrape on the ground. The chicks are precocial, so soon leave the nest. While they are young, both parents play a part in caring for them. The chicks eat insects and young plant growth, while the adults are completely herbivorous, eating leaves, flowers, buds, seeds, and berries during the summer and largely subsisting on the buds and twigs of willow and other dwarf shrubs and trees during the winter.
The willow ptarmigan was formally described... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denali National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Wrangell-St. Elias National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Katmai National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Gros Morne National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Willow Grouse sighting in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, based on 504 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 60th most-seen of the 140 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–May and December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Willow Grouse in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August, the lowest month.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Willow Grouse sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Willow Grouse sightings, Cairngorms National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Denali National Park (United States, about 50%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Willow Grouse is recorded against all the birds logged in Cairngorms National Park (504 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
