Willow ptarmigan complicated changes in plumage several times a year and the differing colour and pattern of the summer plumage: The willow ptarmigan often hybridises with the black grouse ("Tetrao tetrix") and the hazel grouse ("Tetrastes bonasia") and occasionally with the western capercaillie ("Tetrao urogallus"), the spruce grouse ("Falcipennis canadensis") and the rock ptarmigan ("Lagopus muta"). During the Pleistocene, the willow ptarmigan widely occurred in continental Europe. Authors who recognize paleosubspecies have named the Pleistocene willow ptarmigan "L. l. noaillensis" (though the older name "medius" might be the correct one). These marginally different birds are said to have gradually changed from the
Winter white dwarf hamster able to sense a directional change in photoperiod length, such as in one experiment that demonstrated a transition from 16 hours of light to 14 hours initiates a change to the winter coat. The change to the winter coat can be triggered in the summer by the short day lengths. The change occurs back to the summer coat in the autumn, when the length of the days change again. At internal temperatures hamsters in captivity start later with the changes. The winter colour is less pronounced in them. The eyes of the Winter white hamster are black, unless it is