Medium-sized stocky bird with a short tail and a short, stout bill. Breeding males have a red eyebrow, a chestnut neck, and a white belly.
Males and females turn white in the winter and blend in with their snowy surroundings.
Calls include a low series of clucks that can accelerate into an odd nasal growl.
This individual is molting into its white winter plumage. Its brown and rusty patches are being replaced by white feathers. Note feathered feet.
Medium-sized stocky bird with a short and stout bill. Females are mottled in brown, black, and white during the breeding season.
Found in open tundra, especially in areas heavily vegetated with grasses, mosses, herbs, and shrubs.
A plump, chickenlike bird with a short neck, small head and bill, and large, feathered feet.
Larger than a quail, smaller than a teal; about the size of a small gull, but more rotund.
crow-sizedNineteen named subspecies worldwide, six in North America, but more study is needed to determine whether differences between populations support these distinctions.
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