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
Buffalo Mountain Trail the Gore Range. Looking like a fattened herbivore curled on its side beneath a covering of winter snows, Buffalo Mountain overlooks Silverthorne, Dillon, Keystone, and Frisco. Buffalo Mountain Trail ascends through a lodgepole pine forest, past exposed rock formations, into a steep boulder field of krummholz. The trail continues along the east-facing ridge to a nearly flat tundra near the summit. Buffalo Mountain offers views of the Ten Mile Range to the south, Grays Peak, 14,270 feet, and Torreys Peak, 14,267 feet, to the southeast, and the Ptarmigan Wilderness. Greatest Hikes in Central Colorado: Summit and Eagle Counties, a hiking