Chinese Bamboo Partridge - BirdForum Opus

Alternative name: Bamboo Partridge

Male, Subspecies "sonorivox"
Photo by James Eaton
Shihmen Reservoir, Taiwan, April 2005

Bambusicola thoracicus

Includes: Taiwan Bamboo-Partridge

Identification

31cm. Male larger

• Upperparts and breast mottled black, chestnut, and cream
• Black spotted flanks (dark brown in sonorivox)
• Rufous face and throat (much more extensive in nominate)
• Grey above eye and down to neck (darker grey in sonorivox)
• Females are usually unspurred

Subspecies sonorivox
Photo by fluorite
Taiwan

Immatures are duller, have buffy shaft streaks, dark spots on lower back, rump and undertail-coverts.

Distribution

Asia: found in south and central China and Taiwan.
Common in Taiwan, common but declining in China.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

• B. t. thoracica:

• found in arid bush of south and central China

• B. t. sonorivox - Taiwan Bamboo Partridge(split by Clements):

• found in Taiwan, introduced in Japan and Hawaii, sometimes split as full species

The scientific name was formerly spelled thoracica.

Habitat

Warm forests and grasslands; not entirely dependent on bamboo. Occurs up to 1000m, occasionally up to 2000m.

Behaviour

Terrestrial.

Breeding

The clutch consists of 3-7 eggs which are incubated by the female for 18 days.

Diet

The diet includes invertebrates, nuts, seeds, shoots and leaves.

Vocalisation

Call: ki-ko-kuai or kojukkei <flashmp3>Daurian Redstart and Chinese Bamboo Partridge NE Sichuan April 011.mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
Starts with Daurian Redstart, followed by Chinese Bamboo Partridges, Oriental Greenfinch and a bulbul
Recording by china guy, Sichuan, China, September 2011

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 1994. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: New World Vultures to Guineafowl. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334153
3. gbwf.org
4. Birding in Taiwan

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Chinese Bamboo Partridge. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Chinese_Bamboo_Partridge

External Links

Search for photos of Chinese Bamboo Partridge in the gallery

• View more images of this species on Orientalbirdimages