This state's classification carries no date range for the species.
Absent from WY Chapter 11's species list and hunt-area tables.This species is a regulated game bird in neighboring Colorado's high alpine zones, so its complete absence from Wyoming's regulation is notable, though Wyoming publishes nothing either way on a resident population.
No current wild population exists in Wyoming, despite high alpine ranges (Wind River, Bighorn, Absaroka, Teton) that hold the species in neighboring Colorado. WGFD's own state bird list confirms the species as 'Formerly rare resident; likely extirpated (1 WBRC record; 1 additional eBird observation).' A peer-reviewed 2017 field survey (Beauvais et al. Western North American Naturalist, 'Historical Occurrence of White-Tailed Ptarmigan in Wyoming') establishes why: the species' only ever-documented Wyoming range was the Snowy Range (Albany County, Medicine Bow National Forest), specimens collected 1911-1967, with the last verified sighting a single 2005 report of 2 birds. The same study surveyed the ranges most likely to hold current habitat, the Wind River Range, the Bighorn Mountains, and the Beartooth Plateau (adjacent to the Absaroka Range), and found no ptarmigan or sign of ptarmigan in any of them, concluding the Wind River Range is the most suitable of the three for a potential future reintroduction but currently unoccupied. The species is entirely absent from WY Chapter 11's hunting regulations.
No formal population survey program exists for this species in this state.
Join the waitlist and tell us what you’re working on — the planner reads it first once your access opens.
Free, invite-gated, unsubscribe anytime. See what it returns