Lagopus term is of feminine gender, and the specific epithet has to agree with that, the feminine "muta" and "leucura" are correct. The English name "ptarmigan" comes from the Scottish Gaelic name for the bird, , whose origin is unknown. The p- was added due to a mistaken belief in a Greek origin, as if the word were related to the Greek word ("pterón"), 'wing'. The three species are all sedentary specialists of cold regions. Willow ptarmigan is a circumpolar boreal forest species, white-tailed ptarmigan is a North American alpine bird, and rock ptarmigan breeds in both Arctic and mountain habitats
Ptarmigan (sternwheeler) piper, and lifted him unharmed over to the foredeck of "Ptarmigan" while the piper reportedly never missed a note. "Ptarmigan" passed "Gian" and thereafter Cantlie steered clear of the big steamer. "Ptarmigan" was dismantled in 1909. "Ptarmigan"'s engines, which had been under water at least twice when the vessels they powered sank (once with "Ptarmigan", once with the first "Duchess") were installed in another vessel, the "Nowitka". Ptarmigan (sternwheeler) Ptarmigan was a sternwheel steamboat that operated in British Columbia on the Columbia River from 1903 to 1909. "Ptarmigan" was built at Golden, BC and was the last vessel built for