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. 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. 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. A popular gamebird in vast areas of North America, it is commonly known as "Hungarian partridge" or just "hun".
The grey partridge is a rotund bird, 28–32cm (11–13in) 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.
Boxing Day walkers and swimmers will see a grey and mild day with some drizzle in places, the Met Office has said ... Patchy drizzle may cause a “nuisance” for those hoping to get out and enjoy the outdoors, Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said.
5 quiet riverside retreats. Brahmaputra River in Majuli, Assam... And birdwatchers will delight in spotting species such as the grey partridge, long-tailed shrikes, and cuckoos as they soar over the riverbanks! Pravara River in Bhandardara, Maharashtra.
While most of our summertime birds fly south for the season, the chukar and grey partridge stay put ... Although chukars are more abundant than grey partridges, as any upland bird hunter will tell you, it ...
Here’s the first of this Christmas’s big eco-books, a sweet and hopeful tale of grey partridges, one of the country’s most endangered bird species ...Grey partridges originally fell foul of intensive ...
The grey partridge (francolin) was a gamebird much sought after by the ‘shikaris’ of yore ... A pair of grey partridges nervously eye a passing Russell’s viper at Bandar, Roopnagar.
As well as the newly red-listed swift and house martin, familiar birds from my childhood, such as the grey partridge and turtle dove, have virtually disappeared from our rural countryside.
As well as the newly red-listed swift and house martin, familiar birds from my childhood, such as the grey partridge and turtle dove, have virtually disappeared from our rural countryside.
The previous Saturday, when everyone turned up, one of the beaters was missing ...There are even estates, like Arundel in Sussex, where farming sometimes takes a back seat so wildlife, including the grey partridge, which is shot sparingly, can flourish.
While in the City of Love, the 21-year-old pop star, who is dating English actor Louis Partridge, rocked a structured grey coat with silver buttons over a white top and a pair of cropped black pants.
The decline of insects means there is less food around for these birds and their chicks ... Other farmland birds such as grey partridge, lapwing and curlew have all seen their numbers at least halve during the same period ... Related ... Tony Juniper ... .
The Duke of Norfolk is best known for presiding over the coronation as hereditary Earl Marshal, but what really gets him excited is a native farmland bird, the grey partridge.
Grey Partridge at Lough Boora near Tullamore, Co.Offaly... We were there in search of the native grey partridge, a species so elusive and rare that the likelihood of seeing one was slim.
“I have three primary targets left – grey partridge, great skua and red-breasted merganser,” he tells me in his characteristically precise way, “before I start to go for secondary, less regularly occurring species.” ... View image in fullscreen ... .
Caistor St Edmund, Norfolk... Just a couple of years ago, a covey of grey partridges strutted this field, their horseshoe-marked bellies stuck out, like busybodies in a rush. But now they are gone ....
