Bird Guide

Barbary Partridge vs Red-legged Partridge

Barbary Partridge (Alectoris barbara)

Barbary Partridge

Alectoris barbara

Large416 gRocky

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 closely related to its western European equivalent, the red-legged partridge. 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.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Frits van der Meer from Utrecht, Nederland · CC BY 2.0
Red-legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa)

Red-legged Partridge

Alectoris rufa

Large528 gShrubland

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.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Red-legged Partridge
Recorded by Philippe_Grange · Alarm call, call · Arrondissement de Narbonne (near Ouveillan), Aude, Occitanie, France · CC0
Photo: Bouke ten Cate · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

Learn this pair in the BeakBrain App

Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.

Play today's Daily Bird

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Barbary Partridge and Red-legged Partridge.