Animal Color Change Addendum

Color change in animals is an interesting topic, though after last Friday’s Lizard Love Colors, you’ve probably had enough about reptiles. Amphibians, insects and fish all offer fertile ground for the topic, but I’ll stick with feathers and fur for this photo addendum. Here are a handful of examples for which the changes are driven by season not love and stuff.

White-tailed ptarmigan in summer.
(www.summitpost.org/white-tailed-ptarmigan/264112)

White-tailed ptarmigan in winter.
(bib.ge/chiti/open.php?id=2134&chiti=chiti13)

Ermine (aka short-tailed weasel or stoat) in summer.
(www.earthrangers.com/wildwire/this-just-in/colours-of-a-biome-taiga-edition/)

Ermine in winter.
(www.saxzim.org/bog-blog/2013/3/23/winter-white-ermine.html)

Snowshoe hare in summer. (photo by Juan Klavins,
www.uvm.edu/rsenr/wfb74/mammals.html)

Snowshoe hare in winter.
(ecologyadventure.edublogs.org/species/animals/snowshoe-hare/)

Arctic fox in summer.
(www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/earth_icy_planet/glaciers11-en.html?id=8)

Arctic fox in winter. (multiple websites)

Fur of the barren-ground caribou is never entirely brown or white, but it’s browner in summer and whiter in winter.
(www.env.gov.yk.ca/animals-habitat/mammals/barrengroundcaribou.php)