White-necklaced Partridge
Arborophila gingica
Striking small game bird of heavily forested hills and mountains. Typically shy and difficult to see in the dark understory, but its loud, haunting song carries across long distances. This species has a prominent white necklace, but its orange throat, blueish-gray belly, and bright wing stripes are often more visible from a distance.
Identification
The white-necklaced partridge is 25–30 cm (9.8–11.8 in) long and weighs about 253 g (8.9 oz). The adult's forehead is white (in the nominate subspecies), and there is a long supercilium. The neck-sides and throat are orange-rufous. There are a black gorget and a white band above the chestnut upper chest. The underparts are dark grey, changing to whitish on the belly. The nape and back are reddish-brown, with black spots. The rump is olive-brown and has black spots. The wings range from greyish to buffy-brown. The female is like the male but smaller. The short beak is grey, the eyes are brown, and the legs are red. The juvenile bird has a duller breast.
Taxonomy
The white-necklaced partridge was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the other partridge like birds in the genus Tetrao and coined the binomial name Tetrao gingicus. Gmelin based his description "La perdrix de Gingi" that had been described by the French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat's in 1782 in his Voyage aux Indes orientales et a la Chine.Gmelin specified the type locality as "Gingi in Coromandel". This is an error, the species is found in southeast China. The white-necklaced partridge is now one of around twenty species placed in the genus Arborophila that was introduced in 1837 by Brian Houghton Hodgson. The genus name combines the Latin arbor, arboris meaning "tree" with the Ancient Greek philos meaning "-loving". The specific epithet gingicus is from the toponym "Gingi".<p>The white-necklaced partridge has two recognized subspecies:
- Scientific name
- Arborophila gingica
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Phasianidae
- Genus
- Arborophila
Range and habitat
The white-necklaced partridge is endemic to southeastern China, in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi. It lives in forests, bamboo and scrub at elevations of 150–1,900 m (490–6,230 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
This partridge occurs in the undergrowth during the day and roosts in trees. It eats seeds, berries and insects. The territorial call is a repeated plaintive whistle, including wooop and co-qwee. It mostly calls in the early morning and the evening. It breeds from April to May, laying a clutch of five to seven eggs.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Fawn-breasted Brilliant
Heliodoxa rubinoides
Medium-sized hummingbird found in Andean cloud forest from 1,000–2,200 m. Fairly distinctive with warm buffy underparts and green upperparts. Bill is fairly long and slightly drooped at the tip. Isolated pink throat patch. Female similar to male but with more green spotting on underparts and throat patch typically smaller or absent. Usually uncommon at lower levels within forest, but can be quite common at feeders.
White-bellied Drongo
Dicrurus caerulescens
A small drongo with a dull-black back and a relatively short, distinctively forked tail. The “white-bellied” form has an extensively white belly diffusely demarcated from the dark gray throat and breast. The “white-vented” from is restricted to Sri Lanka and is darker overall, with dark gray underparts and a white vent. The species is similar to juvenile Black and Ashy Drongos, which are larger and have smaller amounts of white, diffused with a dusky color or scaling, on the belly and vent. White-bellied is found in dry and open forests across the Indian subcontinent.
Gray-bellied Tesia
Tesia cyaniventer
Long-legged and short-tailed, this tiny bird moves rapidly and unseen through dark, dense undergrowth like a pint-sized shadow. Yellowish-green above and gray below, with a black line extending through the eye below a pale yellowish eyebrow. Slaty-bellied Tesia is extremely similar, but has a brighter yellowish crown, darker gray underparts, and no pale eyebrow. Gray-bellied breeds in mid- to high-elevation forest, sometimes descending into lower foothills in the winter. Forages in dense undergrowth, particularly near streams and fern or bamboo clusters. Listen for its song: a few clear, high, bell-like notes followed by a brief sputtering explosion of lower notes.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.