Partridges are birds in the pheasant family,
Phasianidae. They are a non-migratory Old World group.
These are medium-sized birds, intermediate between the larger
pheasants and the smaller quails. Partridges are native to
Europe,
Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Partridges are ground-nesting
seed-eaters.
Alectoris, is a genus of partridges with representatives
in southern Europe, north Africa and Arabia, and across Asia
in Pakistan
to Tibet and western China. Members of the genus, notably
the Chukar and Red-legged
Partridge, have been introduced to the
United States, Canada, New Zealand and Hawaii. In some countries,
such as Great Britain, hybrids between the two widespread
introduced species are common.
These are non-migratory birds of dry, open and often hilly
country. The nest in a scantily lined ground scrape laying
up to 20 eggs.
They feed on a wide variety of seeds and some insect food.
These are rotund birds, typically with a light brown or grey
back, grey breast and buff belly. The face is white or whitish
with a
dark gorget. They have has rufous-streaked flanks and red
legs. When disturbed, they prefer to run rather than fly,
but if
necessary will fly a short distance on rounded wings.
|
Order:
Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Subfamily
Perdicinae
|
Subfamily Perdicinae
grey partridges
(probably belong in
either Meleagridinae or Phasianinae)
Genus Alectoris - The Rock Partridges, also known as
Red-legged Partridges,
found
in Europe, Africa & Asia.
Arabian Partridge, Alectoris melanocephala
Przevalski's Partridge, Alectoris magna
Rock Partridge, Alectoris graeca
Chukar, Alectoris chukar
Philby's Partridge, Alextoris philbyi
Barbary Partridge,
Alectoris barbara
Red-legged Partridge, Alectoris
rufa
|
Red-legged
Partridge, Alectoris rufa
Red-legged
Partridge, Alectoris rufa
Photo:
Arturo Nikolai
|
The Red-legged Partridge, Alectoris rufa, is
a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae
of the order Galliformes,
gallinaceous birds. It is sometimes known as French Partridge,
to distinguish it from the Grey or English Partridge.
It is a rotund bird, with a light brown back, grey breast and
buff belly. The face is white with a black gorget. It has rufous-streaked
flanks and red legs. When disturbed, it prefers to run rather
than fly, but if necessary it flies a short distance on rounded
wings.
This is a seed-eating bird, but the young in particular take
insects as an essential protein supply. The call is a three-syllable
ka-chu-chu.
This partridge breeds naturally in south western Europe, in
France and Iberia. It has become naturalised in flat areas of
England and
Wales, where it was introduced as a game species, and has been
seen breeding as far North as Lancashire and Eastern Yorkshire
and the western Isle of Man. It is replaced in south eastern
Europe by the very similar Rock Partridge, Alectoris graeca.
It is a non-
migratory terrestrial species, which forms flocks outside the
breeding season.
This species breeds on dry lowlands, such as farmland and open
stony areas, laying its eggs in a ground nest.
Adult Red-legged Partridges are sandy-brown above, pinkish-buff
on the belly, and pale grey on the breast, with a prominent
gorget
of black streaking, bold rufous and black flank-bars, a cream
throat, pink legs, and a red bill and eye ring.
The crown and upper nape of adult Red-legged Partridge are a
warm pinkish-brown; the fore crown and lateral edges of the
crown
are pale blue-grey, and the bird has a narrow off-white supercilium
running from above the lores to the sides of the lower nape.
The lores have a solid bar of black feathering above a patch
of pinkish-red skin. This black colouration continues behind
the eye,
where it broadens, and then extends down around the throat-patch
to meet the upper edge of the gorget. There is a patch of pale
buff-brown feathering on the ear-coverts, adjoining the black.
The eye is surrounded by a bright red eye-ring.
The bill is bright red, the iris is medium brown, and the legs
are pinkish-red.
They are among the favourite targets for bird-hunters in Spain.
Read more here.
|
Chukar Partridge, Alectoris
chukar
Chukar
Partridge, Alectoris chukar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alectoris-chukar-001.jpg
|
The Chukar Partridge or Chukar, Alectoris chukar, is
a Eurasian upland gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae.
It has been
considered to form a superspecies complex along with the Rock
Partridge, Philby's Partridge and Przevalski's Partridge and
treated in the
past as conspecific particularly with the first. This partridge
has well marked black and white bars on the flanks and a black
band running
from the forehead across the eye and running down the head to
form a necklace that encloses a white throat. The species has
been
introduced into many other places and feral populations have
established themselves in parts of North America and New Zealand
The Chukar is a rotund 3235 cm long partridge, with a
light brown back, grey breast, and buff belly. The shades vary
across the various
populations. The face is white with a black gorget. It has rufous-streaked
flanks, red legs and coral red bill. Sexes are similar, the
female
slightly smaller in size and lacking the spur. The tail has
14 feathers, the third primary is the longest while the first
is level with the fifth and
sixth primaries.
It is very similar to the Rock Partridge, Alectoris graeca,
with which it has been lumped in the past but is browner on
the back and has
a yellowish tinge to the foreneck. The sharply defined gorget
distinguishes this species from the Red-legged Partridge which
has the black
collar breaking into dark streaks near the breast. Their song
is a noisy chuck-chuck-chukar-chukar from which the name is
derived.
The Barbary partridge, Alectoris barbara, has a reddish
brown rather than black collar with a grey throat and face with
a chestnut crown.
Other common names of this bird include Chukker (sometimes spelled
as 'Chuker' or 'Chukor'), Indian Chukar and Keklik.
Chukar
Partridge, Alectoris chukar, Germany
Photo: Fiorellino
|
This partridge has its native range in Asia, from Israel and
Turkey through Afghanistan to India, along the inner ranges
of the Western
Himalayas to Nepal. Further west in southeastern Europe it is
replaced by the Red-legged Partridge,
Alectoris rufa. It barely ranges
into Africa on the Sinai Peninsula. The habitat in the native
range is rocky open hillsides with grass or scattered scrub
or cultivation.
It is mainly found at an altitude of 2000 to 4000 m except in
Pakistan, where it occurs at 600m. They are not found in areas
of high
humidity or rainfall.
It has been introduced widely as a game bird, and feral populations
have become established in the United States Rocky Mountains,
Great Basin, high desert areas of California, Canada, New Zealand
and Hawaii. Initial introductions into the US were from the
nominate
populations collected from Afghanistan and Nepal. It has also
been introduced to New South Wales in Australia but breeding
populations
have not persisted and are probably extinct. A small population
exists on Robben Island in South Africa since it was introduced
there in 1964.
Chukar
- overview
BBC Natural History Unit
www.arkive.org
|
The Chukar Partridge is part of a confusing group of "Red-legged
Partridges". Several plumage variations within the widespread
distribution of the Chukar Partridge have been described and
designated as subspecies. In the past the Chukar group was included
with
the Rock Partridge (also known as the Greek Partridge). The
species from Turkey and farther east was subsequently separated
from
Alectoris graeca of Greece and Bulgaria and western Europe.
|
Rock
Partridge, Alectoris graeca
Rock
Partridge, Alectoris graeca
Photo:
Richard Bartz
|
The Rock Partridge, Alectoris graeca, is a gamebird in
the pheasant family Phasianidae
of the order Galliformes,
gallinaceous birds.
This partridge has its main (native) range in southwestern Asia
and southeastern Europe, and is closely related and very similar
to its
eastern equivalent, the Chukar Partridge,
Alectoris chukar.
This is a resident breeder in dry, open and often hilly country.
It nests in a scantily lined ground scrape laying 5-21 eggs.
The Rock Partridge takes a wide variety of seeds and some insect
food.
The Rock Partridge is a rotund bird, with a light brown back,
grey breast and buff belly. The face is white with a black gorget.
It has rufous-streaked flanks and red legs. When disturbed,
it prefers to run rather than fly, but if necessary it flies
a short distance
on rounded wings.
It is very similar to the Chukar Partridge,
but is greyer on the back and has a white, not yellowish foreneck.
The sharply defined gorget
distinguishes this species from Red-legged
Partridge. The song is a noisy ga-ga-ga-ga-chakera-
chakera- chakera.
This species is declining in parts of its range due to habitat
loss and over-hunting. While it generally manages to hold its
own, the status
of the Sicilian population may be more precarious and certainly
deserves attention.
|
Barbary
Partridge , Alectoris barbara
Barbary
Partridge , Alectoris barbara, Tenerife
Photo: Frits van der Meer
|
The Barbary Partridge , Alectoris barbara, is a gamebird
in the pheasant family Phasianidae
of the order Galliformes,
gallinaceous birds.
This partridge has its main native range in North Africa,
and is also native to Gibraltar and the Canary Islands (Ssp
Alectoris barbara koenigi). It has been introduced
to Portugal and Madeira, though there are no recent records
of this species on the latter islands.
It is also present in Sardinia. It is closely related to its
western European equivalent, the Red-legged
Partridge, Alectoris rufa.
This 3336 cm bird is a resident breeder in dry, open
and often hilly country. It nests in a scantily lined ground
scrape laying 10-16 eggs.
The Barbary Partridge takes a wide variety of seeds and some
insect food.
The Barbary Partridge is a rotund bird, with a grey-brown
back, grey breast and buff belly. The face is light grey with
a broad reddish-
brown gorget. It has rufous-streaked white flanks and red
legs. When disturbed, it prefers to run rather than fly, but
if necessary it flies
a short distance on rounded wings.
It is similar to the Red-legged Partridge,
but it has a different head and neck pattern.
The song is a noisy tre-tre-tre-tre-tre-cheeche-tre-tre-tre.
The Barbary Partridge is the national bird of Gibraltar.
|
Don't forget to go to http://www.gbwf.org/
for lots of more info on Pheasants.
Now more than 600 birds on our site! List
here.
|