Daurian partridge

Perdix dauurica

Group: Upland birds
Size class: Small (under 10 kg)
Family: Phasianidae

Range

Asia

Habitat

Grassland
Farmland

Range

Countries it is found in

5 countries

China
Kyrgyzstan
Mongolia
Philippines
Russia

Range from:Wikipedia country bird lists — read 2026-08-05

Chapter 01

Overview

The Daurian partridge (Perdix dauurica), also called the steppe, Asian grey or bearded partridge, is a gamebird of the pheasant family named after Dauria, the Transbaikal region of south-eastern Siberia. It breeds on open grassland and steppe, including farmland, across much of temperate East Asia from Kyrgyzstan east to Mongolia and China, ideally with bushes or open woodland nearby. Two subspecies are recognised, and an introduced population near Manila in the Philippines may have died out. Genetic studies make it the sister species of the grey partridge, with which it forms a superspecies and overlaps in parts of its range; together they are the sister group of the Tibetan partridge. It is mostly resident. The IUCN lists it as least concern.

Chapter 02

Identification

A rotund bird about 28–30 cm long; in autumn males weigh about 200–340 g and females 290–330 g. Both sexes have a sandy-orange face and long feathers under the bill that form a 'beard', most bristly in the breeding season. The rest of the head and the underparts are pale slate-grey, with a buff patch on the chest and a black belly patch, and the back is brown. The female has a smaller belly patch and is slightly duller than the male. Plumage grows darker and more rufous further east. The song sounds like a higher, faster version of the grey partridge's — a shrill, grating kieerr-ik.

Chapter 03

Behaviour

Daurian partridges form flocks in autumn and winter and are most active in the morning and evening, resting at midday depending on the weather. They eat seeds, grain and berries, and in summer insects, which are essential protein for the chicks. Pairs form in mid-March in the Altai, with laying from early April, while in Jilin and Shanxi in China breeding begins at the end of May. The nest is a hollow lined with grass and twigs under a bush or in tall grass, holding some 13–20 olive-brown eggs. Chicks can fly short distances at about two weeks old.

Chapter 04

Hunting

The Daurian partridge has a large range and population but is thought to be declining because of hunting, though not quickly enough to count as threatened. When flushed it springs up explosively on whirring wings, sounding an alarmed staccato hek-hek-hek, and flies off to nearby cover.

Sources

Sources: Daurian partridge — Wikipedia, Stäpprapphöna — Wikipedia (sv) — read 2026-10-29

Cross-reference