Willow ptarmigan seeds and berries during the summer and largely subsisting on the buds and twigs of willow and other dwarf shrubs and trees during the winter. The willow ptarmigan is a medium to large ground-dwelling bird and is the most numerous of the three species of ptarmigan. Males and females are about the same size, the adult length varying between with a wingspan ranging from . The weight is . It is deep-chested and has a fairly long neck, a broad bill, short feathered legs and a moderately short rounded tail. In the summer, the male's plumage is marbled brown, with
Ptarmigan (sternwheeler) "Gian" was at least theoretically faster than "Ptarmigan" made several challenges to Armstrong to race. There is a story that one day in late August 1906 Cantlie was out in his launch in the river at the same time as "Ptarmigan". Cantle seized the moment and sped past "Ptarmigan" with his bagpiper blasting out airs as "Gian" sped past. This was too much for Captain Armstrong, a master steamboat man and veteran of the Klondike Gold Rush. Armstrong ordered full steam ahead, and when "Ptarmigan" caught up to "Gian", two or three roustabouts reached over to "Gian", seized the still-playing