On June 16, 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service applied to list the Mount Rainier White-Tailed Ptarmigan as a threatened species. They “live year-round on alpine mountaintops, and require a mix of specific moist alpine vegetation communities, rocks and nearby snow or water.” The listing proposal is based on the decline and degradation of the birds’ alpine habitat due to climate warming “within the foreseeable future”. Click here to see the listing press release.
The species’ range is in the Cascades Mountains of Washington State from Mount Adams northward into southern British Columbia. This pigeon-sized bird sometimes surprises alpine hikers by flushing from under their feet with a loud squawk. Click here to find out more the timeline for their predicted habitat loss.
