Rock Partridge

About the Rock Partridge

The rock partridge or common rock partridge (Alectoris graeca) is a gamebird in the pheasant family, Phasianidae, of the order Galliformes (gallinaceous birds). It is native to southern Europe, and is closely related and very similar to its eastern equivalent, the chukar partridge, A. chukar.

It is a resident breeder in dry, open and often hilly country. It nests in a scantily lined ground scrape laying 5–21 eggs. The rock partridge takes a wide variety of seeds and some insect food. The rock partridge is a rotund bird, with a light brown back, grey breast and buff belly. The face is white with a black gorget. It has rufous-streaked flanks and red legs. When disturbed, it prefers to run rather than fly, but if necessary it flies a short distance on rounded wings. It is very similar to the chukar partridge, but is greyer on the back and has a white, not yellowish foreneck. The sharply defined gorget distinguishes this species from red-legged partridge. The song is a noisy ga-ga-ga-ga-chakera- chakera- chakera.

Some confusion exists in the naming of this species because the name of the species called stone partridge in English... Wikipedia →