Red-legged Partridge

Alectoris rufa

Near Threatened · IUCN Red List

NTNear ThreatenedPlantsShrublandCavity nestLarge · 528 g

What the Red-legged Partridge sounds like

Sonogram of the Red-legged Partridge: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Philippe_Grange · Alarm call, call · Arrondissement de Narbonne (near Ouveillan), Aude, Occitanie, France · CC0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Red-legged Partridge: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Sonothèque ADVL · Song · Arrondissement de Saint-Malo (near Roz-sur-Couesnon), Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France · CC0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Red-legged Partridge: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Thomas SIGNEAU · Song · Arrondissement de Florac (near Meyrueis), Lozère, Occitanie, France · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

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.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Red-legged Partridge

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is April, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Red-legged Partridge

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 11 countries with regular records, and 11 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Recorded as a rare visitor in United States, Belgium, Canada, New Zealand, Netherlands, Czechia, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Germany, Poland.

About the Red-legged Partridge

The red-legged partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. It is sometimes known as French partridge, to distinguish it from the English or grey partridge. The genus name is from Ancient Greek alektoris a farmyard chicken, and rufa is Latin for red or rufous.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Side by side: Chukar Partridge vs Red-legged Partridge · Red-legged Partridge vs Rock Partridge · Barbary Partridge vs Red-legged Partridge

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