White-tailed ptarmigan wings, square-ended tail, small black beak and short legs with feathering extending to the toes. Adults are long, with the males being only slightly larger than the females. The average weight is . During the summer, the white-tailed ptarmigan is a speckled grayish brown with white underparts, tail and wings. In the fall, the plumage has turned a much more reddish-brown color and white feathers begin to grow through. By winter all the summer brown feathers are lost and the bird is completely white. A further molt in the spring precedes the breeding season and the bird returns to its
Ptarmigan Tunnel Ptarmigan Tunnel The Ptarmigan Tunnel was built in 1930 through the Ptarmigan Wall at an elevation of in Glacier National Park, near Many Glacier. The tunnel allows hikers to avoid a strenuous climb over very steep terrain between Many Glacier and the Belly River valley. Two opposing steel jackhammers drilling from either side of the tunnel and a series of ten-hole rounds of dynamite gradually broke through the mountain in less than three months. A wide area, originally for guide and tourist horses, extends from each portal with a masonry retaining wall. Natural rock lines the interior walls. Heavy iron