White-tailed ptarmigan The species name "leucura" was for a long time misspelt "leucurus", in the erroneous belief that the ending of "Lagopus" denotes masculine gender. However, as the Ancient Greek term "λαγωπους" is of feminine gender, and the species name has to agree with that, the feminine "leucura" is correct. The species name "leucura" is derived from the Latinized version of the Greek "leukos", meaning "white" and "oura", meaning "tail", in reference to the bird's permanently white tail. The white-tailed ptarmigan is the smallest of the ptarmigans and the smallest bird in the grouse family. It is a stocky bird with rounded
Ptarmigan Pass (Sawatch Range) the Eagle River Valley near Red Cliff. Ptarmigan Pass (Sawatch Range) Ptarmigan Pass (elevation 11,765 ft) is a high mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado in the United States. It is located on the crest of the northern end of the Sawatch Range, along the border of Eagle and Summit counties, south of Vail Pass. The pass is traversed by a jeep trail that is passable by four-wheel drive vehicles and on foot. 2WD vehicles will only make it to the summit from the west; the east side is rocky and boggy at times. The trail connects