"The Rock Ptarmigan or ""ptarmigan"" (Lagopus mutus) is a first cousin of the red grouse, emblem of a very famous whisky! It inhabits the short-cropped meadows, moraines and rocky slopes. At the end of the last ice age (about 10,000 years ago), it took refuge at high altitude to preserve its preferred living conditions. This species is an ace of camouflage. Its summer brown-grey plumage moults in winter to all white."