Question

The white-tailed ptarmigan lives at high elevations on mountains that receive a lot of snow in the winter. During the summer, the ptarmigans’ feathers are mottled brown. The birds lose the brown feathers and grow a new set of white feathers during the winter. Scientists are concerned that rising global temperatures will affect the white-tailed ptarmigan. If global climate change leads to the elimination of snow in the habitat of white-tailed ptarmigans, which adaptation is most likely to occur over many generations?

Answer 1

The birds will no longer molt brown feathers for white ones.

Step-by-step explanation:

Over time the birds with white feathers will slowly die off (mostly dude to predators), and over time the birds will likely no longer have white feathers, and they will no longer molt from brown to white and white to brown. The feathers will likely stay brown year round.