How to Use ptarmigan in a Sentence

ptarmigan

noun
  • The herders watch the birds, the snow buntings and ptarmigans, the ravens and bluethroats.
    — Juliana Hanle, Scientific American, 18 Nov. 2019
  • The ptarmigan are white; their plumage is controlled by the length of the day, not cold.
    — John Schandelmeier, Alaska Dispatch News, 4 Oct. 2017
  • The ptarmigan and rabbits whose furs turn white in October rest exposed against bare, snowless tundra.
    — Richard Adams Carey, WSJ, 1 Oct. 2021
  • Some birds, like the willow ptarmigan in Alaska, may have adapted to survive cold winters by having big guts instead of big brains.
    — Geoffrey Giller, Discover Magazine, 11 Aug. 2020
  • Seek out the smaller species of the tundra, from red foxes to ptarmigans, and document your discoveries in a photo- essay.
    — National Geographic, 12 June 2019
  • The warm-bodied smell of ptarmigan buried in willow patches across the valley would never halt us all of a sudden and send us in a circle to locate the exact source.
    — Author: Christine Cunningham, Anchorage Daily News, 13 Mar. 2018
  • Their 77 active projects deal with such issues as heavy-metal contamination of soil and the capture of ptarmigan chicks.
    — Andrea Pitzer, Washington Post, 26 May 2018
  • Elk, caribou, and a variety of bird species (like the Atlantic puffin, or the ptarmigan) are also common sights along the sloping hills.
    — Claire Volkman, Vogue, 30 Aug. 2017
  • This technique is commonly found among Arctic animals, including hares, foxes, lemmings and a bird called the ptarmigan.
    — Allison Futterman, Discover Magazine, 6 Mar. 2023
  • Choose to head out on a riverside hike through lush landscapes inhabited by red deer, ptarmigan, and snowy owl, or spend time exploring Braemar’s charming shops and galleries.
    — National Geographic, 12 June 2019
  • Among the animals were polar bears, walruses, bowhead whales, Atlantic puffins, common eiders, rock ptarmigans, and Atlantic cod.
    — Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 5 Aug. 2025
  • However, the contaminants might impact the habitats of terrestrial birds like lapland longspurs, rosy finches and ptarmigan.
    — Morgan Krakow, Anchorage Daily News, 28 Nov. 2021
  • Higher up near the alpine regions, black pine yields to sheer granite and slate peaks, and chamois, ptarmigan, stoat and marmots peer curiously at visitors, while griffon vultures and golden eagles soar overhead.
    — Smithsonian, 15 June 2018
  • Stokkan is studying ptarmigan and other species of reindeer, and early results suggest turning off the clock may be a general pattern in other Arctic wildlife, Stokkan said.
    — Tia Ghose, WIRED, 11 Mar. 2010
  • Dr Ønvik Pedersen’s team has found that at least three other species—ptarmigans (a type of grouse), sibling voles and Arctic foxes—are similarly hit.
    — The Economist, 19 Dec. 2017
  • The defining moment in hunting and wildlife photography for me came on a mid-September day while hunting whitetail ptarmigan in the high country where the Dall sheep make their living.
    — Anchorage Daily News, 27 June 2018
  • The conservation organization works to restore peatlands, replant native Caledonian pine forests, and reintroduce endangered species such as ptarmigans.
    — Jen Murphy, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ptarmigan.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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