Daurian Partridge
Perdix dauurica
A stout terrestrial bird of open areas with ample grassy or shrubby cover. Moves into agricultural fields in winter to forage on waste grain. Gray-brown overall, with large dark blotch on the belly and orange face and breast, much like similar Gray Partridge, its westerly counterpart. Usually found in medium-sized groups.
Identification
It is a rotund bird measuring roughly 28–30 cm (11–12 in) long. In the fall, males weigh about 200–340 grams (7.1–12.0 oz) and 290–330 grams (10–12 oz) for females. Both sexes have a sandy-orange face and long feathers under the beak, forming a 'beard'. The rest of the head and underparts are pale slate-grey with a buff line on the chest and black belly patch. The female has a smaller belly patch and is slightly duller than the male. Their song sounds like a higher-pitched, sped-up version of the grey partridge's; a shrill, grating kieerr-ik!<p>There are multiple subspecies, differing mainly in the plumage becoming darker and more rufous further east.[citation needed]
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Perdix dauurica
- Authority
- (Pallas, 1811)
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Phasianidae
- Genus
- Perdix
Range and habitat
This partridge breeds generally on open grassland or steppe including farmland across much of temperate East Asia from Kyrgyzstan and extending eastward to China and Mongolia. It is a non-migratory terrestrial species, which forms flocks outside the breeding season in Autumn and Winter. In parts of its range, it overlaps with the very similar and closely related grey partridge, with which it forms a superspecies. They inhabit open country, ideally with some adjacent bushes or open woodland.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Daurian partridges forage and move most actively during morning/evening hours and rest at mid-day, depending on weather.<p>Females usually lay around the second to third week of May. The nest is lined with grasses and twigs on the ground under a bush or in tall grass, and the typical clutch size is somewhere around 13–20 olive-brown eggs. Chicks are a pale yellow-brown dappled with shades of dark brown and rufous.<p>This is a seed-eating species, but the chicks in particular consume insects as an essential protein supply. They are capable of flying short distances around 2 weeks of age. When disturbed, it springs upward with whirring wings in a rapid, explosive manner, then it flies off to nearby cover, all while sounding off an alarmed staccato hek-hek-hek!
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Rufous-browed Flycatcher
Anthipes solitaris
Unique-looking flycatcher with a gleamingly clean white throat and a strong rusty orange tinge to the brow and forehead. Overlaps with closely related White-gorgeted Flycatcher but lacks that species’s gray face and black border to the white throat patch. Inhabits foothill and montane forests, where it forages close to the ground in lower vegetation. Both flycatches and gleans for prey more actively. Song is a high, thin series of whistles; a simple version is “tee-tee-tew’, to which additional phrases may be added. Vocal for a flycatcher, and calls often, giving harsh rattles, chips and chiks, and high thin notes.
Thick-billed Siskin
Spinus crassirostris
Scarce and local throughout its range, and rarely encountered. Found in varied scrubby montane habitats, especially Polylepis groves. Feeds in shrubs and on the ground, often in pairs and small groups; associates readily with other siskins. Both sexes resemble the much commoner and more widespread Hooded Siskin (absent in central Chile), but Thick-billed Siskin is stockier with a relatively large, deep bill. Varied songs and calls overall rather similar to other siskins.
Himalayan Cuckoo
Cuculus saturatus
Visually indistinguishable from Oriental Cuckoo. Adult male is gray above with a black-and-white-barred belly and a dark gray tail; females usually look similar, but some (known as hepatic morph birds) have cinnamon-brown upperparts with black barring throughout. Intermediate in size between Common and Lesser Cuckoos; distinguished from both species by buffy (not white) under-tail feathers and from Lesser Cuckoos by yellow iris. Song is a series of five notes, with the leading note being sharper and more distinct than the four that follow; compare with Oriental Cuckoo’s series of mellow paired notes. Breeds in a wide range of different lowland and hill forests; also more open habitats outside of breeding season.
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