Chukar

The Chukar is a plump, ground-dwelling partridge native to rocky, arid terrain from the Balkans and Middle East across Central and South Asia, widely introduced to the western United States as a popular upland game species. The body is soft gray-buff overall, with a bold black band running from the forehead through the eyes and down around the throat like a necklace, framing a pale, unmarked face.

The flanks are boldly barred with black, white, and chestnut stripes, and the bill and legs are bright coral-red, all combining to make this one of the most striking partridges to encounter on a rocky slope.

Key field marks

• Bold black facial "necklace" bordering a pale gray-buff face and throat
• Boldly barred black, white, and chestnut flank stripes
• Bright coral-red bill and legs
• Plain gray-buff back and breast

Similar species

• Gray Partridge lacks the black facial necklace and barred flank stripes, having instead a plain orange face and a chestnut belly patch, and favors farmland rather than rocky arid terrain.

Chukars inhabit steep, rocky, arid hillsides, canyons, and sagebrush-steppe terrain, often near a reliable water source. Native populations range from southeastern Europe through the Middle East and Central Asia to the Himalayas and western China; introduced populations are well established across the intermountain western United States, including Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Utah, and California, in habitat resembling their native rocky homeland.

The species is non-migratory but makes daily movements between feeding areas and water, and birds often move seasonally between elevations to track available forage.

Chukars are strong runners, typically escaping danger by scrambling uphill on foot rather than flying, and they usually fly only briefly and downhill when flushed, gliding on set wings. They are social outside the breeding season, forming coveys ('coveys') that can number a dozen or more birds.

The male's call is a loud, repetitive "chuck-chuck-chukar-chukar" from which the species gets its name, given from a rocky outcrop to advertise territory. Diet consists mainly of seeds and green vegetation, especially cheatgrass and other introduced grasses in the American West, supplemented with insects. Nests are shallow, grass-lined scrapes on the ground, often on a slope with good cover, holding 10-14 eggs.