Chukar Partridge
Alectoris chukar
The Chukar Partridge (Alectoris chukar) is a uncommon partridges, pheasants, grouse, and alli found in 46 countries, weighing about 502 g. The chukar partridge, or simply chukar, is a Palearctic upland gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae.
About the Chukar Partridge
The chukar partridge, or simply chukar, is a Palearctic 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 down the head to form a necklace that encloses a white throat. Native to Asia, the species has been introduced into many other places and feral populations have established themselves in parts of North America, Malta and New Zealand. This bird can be found in parts of…
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
The chukar is a rotund 32–35 cm (13–14 in) 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.
Where it lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in Sweden, United Kingdom, Australia, Norway, France, Finland, Germany, Bahamas, Spain.
When to see it
The Chukar Partridge can be seen all year round, with peak activity in May. It is a resident species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Chukar Partridge?
- The chukar is a rotund 32–35 cm (13–14 in) long partridge, with a light brown back, grey breast, and buff belly. Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Chukar Partridge?
- The Chukar Partridge is a large sized bird weighing about 502 g.
- Where can you see a Chukar Partridge?
- The Chukar Partridge occurs in 46 countries, including the United States, Israel, Uzbekistan, India and Canada.
- What birds look similar to a Chukar Partridge?
- The Chukar Partridge is most easily confused with the Rock Partridge, the Barbary Partridge and the Arabian Partridge.
- Is the Chukar Partridge endangered?
- The Chukar Partridge is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Chukar Partridge for real
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