Lagopus mutus (Montin) 1776 Other vernacular names: Arctic grouse, barren-ground bird, Chamberlain ptarmigan, Dixon ptarmigan, Nelson ptarmigan, Reinhardt ptarmigan, rocker (in Newfoundland), snow grouse, Townsend ptarmigan, white grouse. Range: Circumpolar. In North America from northern Alaska, northwestern Mackenzie, Melville Island, northern Ellesmere Island, and northern Greenland south to the Aleutian Islands, Kodiak Island, southwestern and central British Columbia, southern Mackenzie, Keewatin, northern Quebec, southern Labrador, and Newfoundland (A. 0 . U.