Red-legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa)

Measurements: 32-34cm long.

Id: Squat

The Red-legged Partridge, and possibly its close relatives in the genus Alectoris too, have the distinction of being among the few European birds to practise, on occasion, a double-clutch system of reproduction. The female sometimes lays two separate batches of eggs in two different nests, and while she incubates one, the male incubates the other at the same time. The hatching of each set of chicks is highly co-ordinated, and the adults and their charges often link up again once their broods are mobile. It’s such an efficient sounding system that it is perhaps surprising that more birds don’t do it, only a few waders. And yet even the Red-legged Partridge doesn’t always follow the system. More often than not, the female incubates one clutch alone and the male may not even attend the chicks when they hatch. He may, in fact, be off consorting with a different partner.

The Red-legged Partridge is by far the most adaptable of its small group of species. It occurs in all sorts of open habitats, including dry mountain slopes, arable fields, open woodland and dunes, and on all types of soils, from chalk to clay. It also ranges from the Mediterranean to temperate and from the lowlands to 2000m. It lives mainly on the ground, but also perches on trees, fence-posts and rocks. There seems no end to its talents – it can even swim!

Red-legged Partridge, Wiltshire, UK (Dave Kjaer)

In common with other partridges, Red-legged Partridges are highly sociable for most of the year. In late summer, after breeding, various families often merge together into “coveys” of 20 birds or more, and remain together throughout the winter. In early spring, though, the males begin to become territorial, announcing their ownership by a remarkable long-winded “rallying call”. At its height this call sounds like the puffing of a steam-engine, becoming faster and faster as the bird gets into its stride.

From ‘Birds: A Complete Guide to All British and European Species’, by Dominic Couzens. Published by Collins and reproduced with permission.