- Alectoris chukar
Identification
32–39 cm (12½-15¼ in)
- Light brown back
- Grey breast
- Buff belly
- White face
- Black gorget
- Rufous-streaked flanks
- Red legs
Similar Species
It is browner on the back and has more of a yellowish tinge to the foreneck than Rock Partridge. Red-legged Partridge lacks the gorget.
Distribution
Native to Asia from Pakistan, India and Afghanistan in the east to south-eastern Europe in the west.
There have been widespread introductions which have become established in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Hawaii.
In Great Britain, hybrids between this species and the also introduced Red-legged Partridge are common.
Status
Fluctuations in population is mainly due to the weather during the breeding season.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 14 subspecies[1]:
- A. c. cypriotes: South-eastern Bulgaria to southern Syria, Crete, Rhodes, and Cyprus
- A. c. sinaica: North Syrian Desert south to Sinai Peninsula
- A. c. kurdestanica: Caucasus Mountains to Iran
- A. c. werae: Eastern Iraq and south-western Iran
- A. c. koroviakovi: Eastern Iran to Pakistan
- A. c. subpallida: Tajikistan (Kyzl Kum and Kara Kum mountains)
- A. c. falki: North-central Afghanistan to Pamirs and western China (western Xinjiang)
- A. c. dzungarica: North-western Mongolia to Russian Altai and eastern Tibet
- A. c. pallescens: North-eastern Afghanistan to Ladakh and western Tibet
- A. c. pallida: North-western China (Tarim basin of western Xinjiang)
- A. c. fallax: North-western China (eastern and southern Tien Shan Mountains of Xinjiang)
- A. c. chukar: Eastern Afghanistan to eastern Nepal
- A. c. pubescens: Inner Mongolia to north-western Sichuan and eastern Qinghai
- A. c. potanini: Western Mongolia
Habitat
This is a resident breeder in dry, open, and often hilly country.
Behaviour
Action
When disturbed, they prefer to run rather than fly, but if necessary will fly a short distance when they show rounded wings.
Breeding
The clutch contains between 8 and 20 eggs. They are laid in a ground scrape with minimal lining.
Diet
They have a wide and varied diet, which consists of bulbous roots, grain and shoots of grass and cereals, berries. They also eat insects and including their eggs.
Vocalisation
The song is a noisy chuck-chuck-chukar-chukar.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved April 2019)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Chukar Partridge. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Chukar_Partridge
External Links
