Grey partridge

For the South Asian species, see Grey francolin.

Grey partridge

Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)^[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Subfamily:	Perdicinae
Genus:	Perdix
Species:	P. perdix
Binomial name
*Perdix perdix* (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
8, see text

Range of P. perdix Native range Introduced range

The grey partridge (Perdix perdix), also known as the English partridge, Hungarian partridge, or hun, is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. The scientific name is the Latin for "partridge", and is itself derived from Ancient Greek perdix.^[2]

Widespread and common throughout much of its range, the grey partridge is evaluated as "of Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. However, it has suffered a serious decline in the UK, and in 2015 appeared on the "Birds of Conservation Concern" Red List.^[3] This partridge breeds on farmland across most of Europe into western Asia, and has been introduced widely into Canada, United States, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.^[4] A popular gamebird in vast areas of North America, it is commonly known as "Hungarian partridge" or just "hun".

Uncommon grey partridge in Alberta, Canada^[5]

The grey partridge is a rotund bird, 28–32 cm (11–13 in) long, brown-backed, with grey flanks and chest. The belly is white, usually marked with a large chestnut-brown horse-shoe mark in males, and also in many females. Hens lay up to twenty eggs in a ground nest. The nest is usually in the margin of a cereal field, most commonly winter wheat. The only major and constant difference between the sexes is the so-called cross of Lorraine on the tertiary coverts of females—these being marked with two transverse bars, as opposed to the one in males. These are present after around 16 weeks of age when the birds have moulted into adult plumage. Young grey partridges are mostly yellow-brown and lack the distinctive face and underpart markings. The song is a harsh kieerr-ik, and when disturbed, like most of the gamebirds, it flies a short distance on rounded wings, often calling rick rick rick as it rises.

They are a seed-eating species, but the young in particular take insects as an essential protein supply. During the first 10 days of life, the young can only digest insects. The parents lead their chicks to the edges of cereal fields, where they can forage for insects. They are also a non-migratory terrestrial species, and form flocks outside the breeding season. Though common and not threatened, it appears to be declining in numbers in some areas of intensive cultivation such as Great Britain, probably due to a loss of breeding habitat and possibly food supplies. Their numbers have fallen in these areas by as much as 85% in the last 25 years. Efforts are being made in Great Britain by organizations such as the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust to halt this decline by creating conservation headlands. In 1995, it was nominated a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) species. In Ireland, it is now virtually confined to the Lough Boora reserve in County Offaly where a recent conservation project has succeeded in boosting its numbers to 900, raising hopes that it may be reintroduced to the rest of Ireland.

Subspecies

There are eight recognized subspecies:

P. p. perdix (Linnaeus, 1758) – nominate, found in the British Isles and southern Scandinavia to Italy and the Balkans
P. p. armoricana Hartert, 1917 – found locally in France
P. p. sphagnetorum (Altum, 1894) – found in the moors of the northern part of the Netherlands and northwest Germany
P. p. hispaniensis Reichenow, 1892: Iberian partridge, found from central Pyrenees to northeast Portugal
P. p. italica Hartert, 1917 – Italian grey partridge, extinct
P. p. lucida (Altum, 1894) – eastern grey partridge, found from Finland east to Ural Mountains and south to Black Sea and northern Caucasus
P. p. canescens Burturlin, 1906 – southern grey partridge, found from Turkey east to the South Caucasus and northwest Iran
P. p. robusta Homeyer and Tancré, 1883 – southeastern grey partridge, found from the Ural Mountains to southwestern Siberia and northwestern China

Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden

References

↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Perdix perdix". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
↑ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 297. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
↑ "BoCC4 Red List" (PDF). Birds of Conservation Concern. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
↑ Long, John L. (1981). Introduced Birds of the World. Agricultural Protection Board of Western Australia. pp. 21–493.
↑ Sibley, David Allen (2003). The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America (A Chanticleer Press ed.). Knopf. p. 122. ISBN 0-679-45121-8.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Perdix perdix.

Wikispecies has information related to: Perdix perdix

Links to related articles

Game animals and shooting in the United Kingdom

Game birds	Common pheasant Grey partridge Red-legged partridge Red grouse Rock ptarmigan Black grouse¹ Eurasian woodcock Common snipe

Quarry species	Mallard Teal Wood pigeon Golden plover Canada goose Greylag goose Pink-footed goose Greater white-fronted goose² Eurasian wigeon Tufted duck Northern shoveller Northern pintail Gadwall Common pochard Common goldeneye Common moorhen Eurasian coot

Deer	Red deer Roe deer Fallow deer Sika deer Reeves's muntjac Water deer

Other quarry	European hare Red fox European rabbit

Opponents	League Against Cruel Sports Animal Aid

Law	Game Act 1831 Hunting Act 2004

See also	British Association for Shooting and Conservation Hunting and shooting in the United Kingdom Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust Countryside Alliance Driven grouse shooting Glorious Twelfth Gamekeeper Deer stalking

¹ Rarely shot due to declining numbers. ² England and Wales only; protected Scotland.

Game animals and shooting in the United States

Game birds	Bobwhite quail Chukar Hungarian partridge Prairie chicken Mourning dove Ring-necked pheasant Ptarmigan Ruffed grouse Sharp-tailed grouse Snipe (common snipe) Spruce grouse Turkey Woodcock

Waterfowl	Black duck Canada goose Canvasback Gadwall Greater scaup Lesser scaup Mallard Northern pintail Redhead Ross's goose Snow goose Wood duck

Big game	Bighorn sheep Black bear Razorback Brown bear Bison (buffalo) Caribou Cougar (mountain lion) Elk Moose White-tailed deer Gray wolf Mountain goat Mule deer Pronghorn Muskox Dall sheep Polar bear

Other quarry	American alligator Bobcat Coyote Fox squirrel Gray fox Gray squirrel Opossum Rabbit Red fox Snowshoe hare

See also	Bear hunting Big game hunting Bison hunting Deer hunting Waterfowl hunting Whaling Fishing Wolf hunting Upland hunting

Poultry

Species	Chicken Duck Goose Guineafowl Grey partridge Pheasant Domestic pigeon Common quail Japanese quail Turkey

Breeds	Chicken breeds Duck breeds Turkey breeds Goose breeds Pigeon breeds

Poultry farming	Chicken coop Chicken harvester Free range Free-range eggs Pastured poultry Organic egg production Yarding Hatchery Battery cage Furnished cages Forced molting Debeaking Chick culling Chick sexing Hock burns Blinders (poultry), aka Chicken eyeglasses Poultry litter Poultry farming in the United States

Taxon identifiers	EoL: 1049240 GBIF: 2473958 ITIS: 175915 IUCN: 22678911 NCBI: 9052 Fauna Europaea: 96434

Authority control	GND: 4132468-7

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