Snow camouflage Snow camouflage Snow camouflage is the use of a coloration or pattern for effective camouflage in winter, often combined with a different summer camouflage. Summer patterns are typically disruptively patterned combinations of shades of browns and greys, up to black, while winter patterns are dominated by white to match snowy landscapes. Among animals, variable snow camouflage is a type of seasonal polyphenism with a distinct winter plumage or pelage. It is found in birds such as the rock ptarmigan, lagomorphs such as the Arctic hare, mustelids such as the stoat, and one canid, the Arctic fox. Since these have evolved
Rock ptarmigan the Russian High Arctic overwinters during the polar night and survives by feeding on rich vegetation on and underneath high cliffs where seabird colonies are located in summer.<ref name="FJL/">Dinets, V. (2001) Winter ecology of Willow Ptarmigan "Lagopus lagopus" and Rock Ptarmigan "L. mutus" at the northern limit of their range. "Ornitologia" 29: 326-327 (in Russian with English summary).</ref> During the last ice age, the species was far more widespread in continental Europe. The rock ptarmigan feeds primarily on birch and willow buds and catkins when available. It also eats various seeds, leaves, flowers, and berries of other plant species. Insects