Alaska · UplandRock ptarmigan

Rock ptarmigan occur throughout most of Alaska, from the northern Brooks Range south throughout Southeast Alaska, breeding on hilly or mountainous tundra in all major treeless areas except the flat tundra of the western and extreme northern coasts. It is the only Alaska ptarmigan species that occurs on the Aleutian Islands, where an endemic subspecies (Evermann's rock ptarmigan) inhabits a distinctly different, lower-elevation coastal habitat than the mountain-tundra range used everywhere else in the state. ADF&G's own long-term breeding-survey network and RY24 wing-donation program together identify where the species is most closely monitored and most heavily harvested, even though its overall range is close to statewide.