About the Snow Partridge
The snow partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae found widely distributed across the high-altitude Himalayan regions of Pakistan, China, India and Nepal. It is the only species within its genus, and is thought to be the most basal member of the "erectile clade" of the subfamily Phasianinae. The species is found in alpine pastures and open hillside above the treeline but not in as bare rocky terrain as the Himalayan snowcock and is not as wary as that species. Males and females look similar in plumage but males have a spur on their tarsus.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
This partridge appears grey above and chestnut below with bright red bill and legs and the upperparts finely barred in black and white. In flight the pattern of dark brown primaries and secondaries with a narrow trailing white margin make them somewhat like the much larger Tibetan snowcock. The 14-feathered tail is dark and barred in white. There is variation in the shade and some birds have a nearly black crown. The primaries and secondaries are brown and the breast is deep chestnut. The abdomen has more white and the lower flanks and feathers around the vent are barred brown and white.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where the Snow Partridge lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in Myanmar (Burma).
When to see the Snow Partridge
Peak activity in May · a passage migrant species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Crested PartridgeRollulus rouloulThe crested partridge, also known as the crested wood partridge, roul-roul, red-crowned wood partridge, green wood quail, and green wood partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds.
Germain's Peacock-PheasantPolyplectron germainiThe bird is a medium-sized, approximately 60 centimetres (24 in) long, brownish dark pheasant with finely spotted buff, short crest, bare red facial skin, brown iris and purplish-blue ocelli on upperbody plumage and half of its tail of twenty feathers.
Heuglin's SpurfowlPternistis icterorhynchusHeuglin's spurfowl is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae.
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