White-tailed Ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura) is a small (30-31 cm) grouse with a thick body and white tail and wings; in the winter it is completely white and has grayish brown barring in the summer. The core of their distribution is in western Canada and Alaska, but they are also disjunctly distributed through the Rocky Mountains, south to northern New Mexico. In New Mexico, they are found in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. They live in alpine habitats with bare rock and talus slopes. Alpine willows (Salix spp.) are important food sources for the White-Tailed Ptarmigan, especially during the winter months.