Thegrey partridge (Perdix perdix) is a bird in the pheasant familyPhasianidae of the orderGalliformes, gallinaceous birds. The scientific name is theLatin for "partridge".
Eightsubspecies are recognised by the IOC World Bird List,[5] though the differences are clinal, and not all are accepted by other authorities; the HBW/BirdLife International list only accepts six subspecies;[6] the differences noted below:
P. p. armoricana(Hartert, 1917). SouthwesternFrance.
P. p. sphagnetorum(Altum, 1894). On peaty soils in the northern part of theNetherlands and northwestGermany. Barely distinct fromP. p. perdix and included in it by HBW/BLI.[5][6][7]
The grey partridge is a rotund bird, 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 commonlywinter wheat.
Males and females are the same size, and very similar in plumage, though the females tend to be slightly duller, and have a smaller dark belly patch.[10] In the hand, the so-called "cross of Lorraine" on the tertiary coverts of females are marked with two transverse bars, as opposed to the one in males.[citation needed] 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.[10] The song is a harsh, high-pitchedkieerr-ik. When disturbed, like most gamebirds, it flies a short distance on rounded wings, often callingrick rick rick as it rises.[10]
They are a seed-eating species, but the young in particular takeinsects as an essentialprotein supply. During the first 10 days of life, the young can only digest insects. The parents lead their chicks to the edges ofcereal fields, where they can forage for insects.
Widespread and common throughout much of its range, the grey partridge is evaluated as "of Least Concern" on theIUCN Red List of Threatened Species. However, it has suffered a serious decline in theUK, and in 2015 appeared on the "Birds of Conservation Concern" Red List.[11] This partridge breeds on farmland across most ofEurope and across the westernPalearctic as far as southwestern Siberia; it is anon-migratory terrestrial species, and forms flocks of up to 30 outside of the breeding season.
Though common and not threatened, it is declining in numbers in some areas of intensive cultivation such as theUnited Kingdom, due to a loss of breeding habitat andinsecticides harming insect numbers, an important food source for the species. Their numbers have fallen in these areas by as much as 85% in the last 25 years.[citation needed] Efforts are being made in theUnited Kingdom by organizations such as theGame & Wildlife Conservation Trust to halt this decline by creatingconservation headlands.
In 1995, it was nominated aBiodiversity action plan (BAP) species. InIreland, it is now virtually confined to theLough Boora reserve inCounty Offaly where a recent conservation project has succeeded in boosting its numbers to around 900, raising hopes that it may be reintroduced to the rest of Ireland.[13]
^abCramp, Stanley (1980).Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Vol. II Hawks to Bustards. Oxford London New York: Oxford university press. p. 486–496.ISBN0-19-857505-X.
