The grey partridge, Francolinus pondicerianus or Gray Francolin, likes to travel alone or in pairs, and is good at forming flocks like other chickens. They fly very fast, often in a straight line. They are extremely vigilant and always hide in grass or bushes, making them extremely difficult to spot. When frightened, most of them fly to higher ground, which is different from other chickens. Sometimes three to five flock in search of food. When startled, they hide in the bushes very quickly and are hard to find. Strong claws, good at walking on the ground, although not often flying, but flying fast.
Grey partridges are omnivorous animals, mainly feeding on insects such as grasshoppers, locusts, crickets and ants, as well as various herbs, buds, leaves, berries and seeds of shrubs, grains of grain, rice grains, peanuts, yellow millet and other grains scattered in farmland, sweet potato, pinellia, locust tree fruit, rape flowers and so on.
The breeding period of grey partridge is from March to June, and mating begins in March to April. Calls are more frequent during courtship, often on rocks, tree stumps, shrubs, or tree branches, especially at dawn and dusk, when one bird calls first, followed by other males. Nest in grass or scrub on a hillside. The nest is simple and rough, mostly made of hay and branches, with a few feathers inside. Each litter lays 3-6 eggs, up to 8 eggs. The eggs are oval or pear-shaped and pale yellowish to yellowish brown in color. Incubation is carried out by the female bird, which is very fond of the nest, and the incubation period is 21 days. The young birds can follow the parent birds soon after the shell, such as natural enemies attack, immediately drill into the grass to hide, and the male birds are good at leading the enemy away.
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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