Appearance:

Slightly smaller and less heavy than Willow Ptarmigan. Overall greyer plumage, and a more delicate bill. Male summer with grey upperparts and white underparts. Female summer with browner upperparts than male. Both sexes completely white in winter plumage, except for black lores in males. Wings white and tail feathers black in all plumages in both sexes.

Sound:

Call of male a very distinct "rrrrrrr", being a rattling rapid pulse of clicks, like running a stick along a picket fence. Female has similar sounds, but is higher pitched and not so coarse as male.

Flushed:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-photo:fveronesi1, Licence,Link,

CC-sound:Peter Boesman, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

A medium sized, long-winged raptor, with deeply forked tail. Adults with warm brown underparts and typical whitish "window" contrasting with black wing tips. Tail rufous above. Easily confused with Black Kite, but this has shallower forked tail and gives a darker brown impression. Note that birds gliding with tail fanned may give impression of less forked tail. Flight elegant, with frequent and typical tail twisting to maintain position in the air.

Sound:

Mainly heard in breeding season. A piercing long whistle, quickly ascending, then descending "piuuu". Often used in movies to give an eerie wildlife mood. Differs from Black Kite in being a clear whistle all the way through the call, without "shivering". Higher pitched than Buzzard, and with less pause between calls.

Call:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-sound:Jens Kirkeby, Licence,Link.