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Willow Ptarmigan

Status Introduced, rare local resident. Breeds. An attempt to introduce Willow Ptarmigan into Nova Scotia was made by a group of Halifax sportsmen in 1933. Fourteen birds imported from northern Manitoba were liberated in Waverley Park, near Halifax, all soon passing into oblivion. Later it was thought more consideration had been given to sportsmen's convenience than to the physical requirements of the birds when the site for liberation had been chosen.

In 1968 another effort to bring this bird to Nova Scotia was made by the provincial Department of Lands and Forests, under the supervision of Neil VanNostrand. On 26 July of that year, 20 chicks, three adult hens and a cock were imported from Newfoundland and liberated on Scatarie Island, 2 km or more off the coast of Cape Breton County. In 1969 additional birds were imported, four adults and 60 chicks having been procured from the same source.

In spring 1970 two broods and a nest of 13 eggs were found on Scatarie. Annual visits to this island by Lands and Forests personnel have confirmed that the species is established there. A white ptarmigan, presumably a Willow Ptarmigan, was observed at Cape Canso, Guysborough County, in early December 1969 by June Peters and others. This bird could have been an emigrant from Scatarie Island, some 100 km to the northeast. A male Willow Ptarmigan closely observed on Sable Island by Christel and Norman Bell on 12 August 1966 must have come from outside the province, probably from Newfoundland.

Remarks Scatarie Island is a lonely spot, uninhabited except for those who operate the lighthouse located at a point quite remote from the area of liberation. The island is slightly less than 20 km square, a third of which is said to provide ideal habitat for the ptarmigan.