Home/Species/ Gray Partridge

Perdix perdix

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Gray Partridge

G5Secure Found in 23 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106284

Element CodeABNLC01010

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassAves

OrderGalliformes

FamilyPhasianidae

GenusPerdix

Other Common Names

Grey Partridge (EN) Perdrix grise (FR)

Concept Reference

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.

Conservation Status

Rank MethodExpertise without calculation

Review Date2016-04-09

Change Date1996-11-25

Range Extent Comments

Native to western Eurasia, from central Sweden and northern Russia south to northern Spain, Greece, and northern Iran and east to central Siberia (Pough 1957). Widely introduced in North America, established locally from southern Canada to northern U.S. (from New York west to Oregon).

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Primarily cultivated regions with marginal cover of bushes, undergrowth or hedgerows, and pastures, steppe and meadows (AOU 1983). Nests in grasslands, hayfields, or grain fields. The nest is a scratched-out hollow, lined with grasses and leaves.

Ecology

In New York, home range size was 82-672 ha, did not differ by season (Church and Porter 1990).

Reproduction

Breeding begins late May to early June. Eight to 23 eggs in one nest; 2 hens may lay eggs in same nest. Incubation lasts 23-25 days (Harrison 1978). Nestlings precocial and downy. Young tended by both parents. Probably lifetime pair bond (Weigand 1980).

Terrestrial Habitats

SavannaGrassland/herbaceousOld fieldCropland/hedgerow

Other Nations (2)

United StatesNNA

Province	Rank	Native
Montana	SNA	No
Michigan	SNA	No
Iowa	SNA	No
Missouri	SNA	No
Nebraska	SNA	No
New York	SNA	No
Utah	SNA	No
Idaho	SNA	No
South Dakota	SNA	No
Oregon	SNA	No
North Dakota	SNA	No
Vermont	SNA	No
Nevada	SNA	No
Minnesota	SNA	No
Illinois	SNA	No
Washington	SNA	No
Wyoming	SNA	No
Wisconsin	SNA	No
Indiana	SNA	No

CanadaNNA

Province	Rank	Native
New Brunswick	SNA	No
Quebec	SNA	No
British Columbia	SNA	No
Saskatchewan	SNA	No
Nova Scotia	SNA	No
Ontario	SNA	No
Manitoba	SNA	No
Prince Edward Island	SNA	No
Alberta	SNA	No

Roadless Areas (23)

Idaho (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Hoodoo	Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest	153,868
Palisades	Caribou-Targhee National Forest	122,002

Montana (7)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bmss Ra 1485	Flathead National Forest	334,275
Bridger	Gallatin National Forest	45,059
Cabinet Face East #671	Kootenai National Forest	50,326
Madison	Gallatin National Forest	127,859
Mt. Gmt Area H	Custer National Forest	1,335
North Absaroka	Custer National Forest	21,063
North Absaroka	Gallatin National Forest	159,075

Nevada (5)

Area	Forest	Acres
Jenneman Peak	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	6,431
Pearl Peak	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	71,405
Ruby - Marsh	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	10,164
Ruby - Segunda	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	12,532
Ruby - South	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	13,195

North Dakota (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Dawsons Waterhole	Dakota Prairie Grasslands	6,087

Oregon (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Hellhole	Umatilla National Forest	65,679
Snake River	Wallowa-Whitman National Forest	31,229

Utah (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Clarkston Mtn.	Caribou National Forest	7,099

Wyoming (5)

Area	Forest	Acres
Gannett Hills - Spring Creek	Bridger-Teton National Forest	45,462
Little Bighorn	Bighorn National Forest	133,949
Palisades	Targhee National Forest	1,121
Salt River Range	Bridger-Teton National Forest	235,661
West Slope Tetons	Targhee National Forest	47,448

References (9)

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Church, K.E. and W.F. Porter. 1990. Winter and spring habitat use by gray partridge in New York. J. of Wildlife Management 54:653-657.
Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
Hupp, J. W., J. T. Ratti, and L. M. Smith. 1988. Gray partridge foraging ecology in eastern South Dakota. Great Basin Nat. 48:202-205.
Johnsgard, P. A. 1988. The quails, partridges, and francolins of the world. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. 264 pp.
Pough, R. H. 1957. Audubon Western Bird Guide. Doubleday. 316 pp.
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Weigand, J. P. 1980. Ecology of the Hungarian partridge in north-central Montana. Wildl. Monogr. No. 74:1-106.