From Opus

Photo by geomorph
Heber Valley, Utah, USA, May 2004

Alectoris chukar

[edit] Identification

Length 32-35cm

• Light brown back
• Grey breast
• Buff belly
• White face
• Black gorget
• Rufous-streaked flanks
• Red legs

Juvenile
Photo by Rajiv Lather
Ladakh, India, October 2006

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Status

Fluctuations in population is mainly due to the weather during the breeding season.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] 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

[edit] Habitat

This is a resident breeder in dry, open, and often hilly country.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Movement

When disturbed, it prefers to run rather than fly, but if necessary it flies a short distance on rounded wings.

[edit] Breeding

The clutch of 8-20 eggs is laid in a ground scrape with minimal lining.

[edit] Diet

They eat a variety of seeds and some insects. Drooping Brome (Cheatgrass) is their favourite food.

[edit] Vocalisation

The song is a noisy chuck-chuck-chukar-chukar.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links