>We were up at Paradise, Mt. Rainier, on one of the lower glacier view trails
>on Sunday and saw what I could have sworn were Ptarmigan. But since they
>practically walked right up to us, and were not above tree line, we were
>convinced that they must be Blue Grouse. I certainly did not think they were
>big enough for grouse, and they did not have a long tail but the ranger
>insisted that they could be juv that were not full grown. Not full grown in
>Sept. ??

Park rangers don't have *all* the answers, but I'd say this one was
probably correct.

If they were fully feathered (i.e., not downy), even juvenile Blue Grouse
should still be about 2x the bulk of White-tailed Ptarmigan, which are
little guys. Female ptarmigans have barred bellies, males and juveniles
white bellies.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416