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 ptarmigan by about 10%. The male's "song" is a loud croaking. The rock ptarmigan is seasonally camouflaged; its feathers moult from white in winter to brown in spring or summer. The breeding male has greyish upper parts with white wings and under parts. In winter, its plumage becomes completely white except for the black tail. It can be distinguished from the winter willow ptarmigan by habitat—the rock ptarmigan prefers higher elevations and more barren habitat; it is also smaller with a more delicate bill. The rock ptarmigan is a sedentary species which breeds across arctic and subarctic Eurasia and North