# @usgs on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DE7lZjWp1m2
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69013928-usgs-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/c2348011ae.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-01-17T15:05:32.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) (@USGS) — https://gondola.cc/USGS

## Caption

It's that ptarmigan.... tarm for more #SnowyScience today featuring the white-tailed ptarmigan! ❄️
 
Can you spot the ptarmigan in this photo? White-tailed ptarmigans (like pterodactyls, the p is silent) turn completely white in the winter, one of several cool adaptations that help them blend in and survive in snowy environments. They also have feathered, snowshoe-like feet, which enable them to traverse the snowy terrain.
 
The white-tailed ptarmigan is a North American grouse species that lives at the top of mountains. Snow plays a critical role in white-tailed ptarmigan ecology, as ptarmigan burrow in snow in the winter to keep warm and bathe in persistent snow patches to keep cool in the summer.
 
Researchers at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center and Colorado State University's Natural Resources Ecology Lab work together to radio-track and genetic data to study white-tailed ptarmigan population trends, habitat use, and evolution to understand the potential for changing climates and land use to impact this unique species.
 
#Ecology #Conservation #USGS #CSU #ResearchCollab
 
📷 Coloradostateuniversity graduate student attempts to safely capture a ptarmigan in Rocky Mountain National Park (rockynps) for radio tagging. Tags help researchers monitor where and for how long individual birds live. 
📷 USGS Biologist and Coloradostateuniversity graduate student hike Mt. Blue Sky in search of ptarmigan. 
📷 Coloradostateuniversity graduate tags a ptarmigan in rockynps. 
📷 Coloradostateuniversity graduate holds a radio antenna used for tracking radio-tagged ptarmigan.

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 2,137
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- **Comments:** 11

## Tags

conservation, usgs, ecology, researchcollab, snowyscience, csu

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