Alectoris rufa

IUCN

Alias：Alectoris rufa，Red-legged Partridge

Basic Information

Scientific classification

name：Alectoris rufa
Aliases：Alectoris rufa，Red-legged Partridge
Outline：Landfowl
Family：Gallinariformes P.family Grouse

Vital signs

length：About 38 cm
Weight：391-514g
lifetime：No textual research information is available

Feature

The irises are brown, the mouth is red, and the claws are red, with heavy markings

Details

Red-legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa) has three subspecies.

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Red-legged cockerels are active during the day, in the early morning and evening, and usually rest at their perch at noon. Sex likes to swarm, and small flocks of up to 20 birds are often seen wandering fields and pastures. Sometimes during the day, the group scurried to the farmland near the hillside to feed, and ran straight up the hill after being startled. Emergency also fly, flying ability is strong and fast, but fly not far and fall into the grass or brush. The species often inhabits tree crotches or elevated on old farm buildings.

Early in the morning and at dusk, the rooster often stands on a bare rock or high ground and calls loudly, issuing a series of higher and higher repeats of "Go CHAK-CHAK-CHAK; Go CHAK Go CHAK-CHAK......” The sound, followed by a nasal cluck of a few vocal chords, begins slowly, then gradually accelerates and repeats many times.

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It feeds mainly on plant matter such as the leaves, roots, grasses and legumes of herbaceous plants, buds and young leaves of shrubs, berries, seeds, mosses, lichens, or insects such as ants and grasshoppers, and often travels to nearby farms to feed on grains or dig up roots and tubers in the soil.

The red-legged grouse lays 10-16 cream-colored eggs with reddish brown spots per litter. Incubation lasts about 23-24 days, with the female bird alone, and occasionally the male can sit on the nest and incubate if the female is out foraging. The body of the chicks is brown and cream plumage, and the underbody is lighter. With both parents feeding, the chicks can fly 10 days after hatching and grow like adults for about two months. They usually stay at home during their first winter. This species may give birth to a second brood soon after the first brood hatches. In this case, both parents share parenting responsibilities for the chicks in each nest.

Listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2016 Red List of Threatened Species ver 3.1 - Not Threatened (LC).

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Location

Origin: Andorra, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain.
Introduced: Algeria, Greece, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom.
Travellers: Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland.
It inhabits rocky slopes and rocky grassland areas in mountainous and dry hilly areas, as well as high mountains with more shrubs and trees, and also in forest rim shrubland and high mountain areas with more trees. The vertical altitude of the habitat is about 1300 meters, and it can be as high as 2000 meters. In winter, it goes down to low altitude areas such as low mountains, foothills, plains, valleys, canyons, and even rocky desert fields. Generally do not enter the forest and wet areas. It is often found in orchards, plantations, cropland, grassy hillsides, but also in dry cropland, wasteland, and sand dunes.

Form

The red-legged cockerel is medium in size, 38 cm long, 47-50 cm wingspan, and 391-514 g in weight. It's a very heavily spotted quail. The crown and nape of the head are brown, showing a short crest when the bird is frightened or excited. The chin and throat are white, and the black stripes of the lower face pass over the eyes and the lower throat, forming a black collar. Contrast with bright red mouth and fleshy red eye circles. The black feathers continue down, forming black triangular patches on the light gray chest. It ends in a thin strip behind the black stripe on the neck. The lower neck is tan with small black markings. The upper body is powder-gray, the chest is yellow-orange, and the flanks have black and maroon stripes and white stripes, each showing a fine black and white edge on a light blue-gray background. There are slight differences among the subspecies, with desert being the weakest. Iris tan, surrounded by red circles; Red mouth; Legs and PAWS red.