Grey partrigde

    Perdix perdix

Castilian: Perdiz pardilla

Catalan: Perdiu xerra

Gallego: Charrela

Euskera: Eper grisa

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Galliformes

Family: Phasianidae

Migratory status: Permanent resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Vulnerable”.

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THREATS

Hunting, contamination caused when specimens living on farms are released into the wild, forest repopulation, fires, infrastructure development, and possibly global warming.

Length / size: 29-31 cm / 45-48 cm

Identification: Pudgy, grey bird with brown, white and black streaks on its back, an orange face, a brown spot on its belly and orange on the end of its tail. Male and female adults have the same appearance, but juveniles are a pale mottled brown colour. In flight it alternates between flapping its wings quickly and short glides.

Song: It makes a repetitive and hoarse "rree rree rree" sound.

Diet: It primarily feeds on leaves, shoots, roots, fruits from a wide variety of plants, and it sometimes consumes insects during the first weeks of breeding.

Reproduction: Pairs are formed between February and March and eggs are laid between April and May. The female makes the nest in a hole in the ground, lining it with leaves and branches so that it is hidden in the vegetation. She also incubates the eggs, but both adults care for the chicks.

HABITAT

It occupies mountainous areas with scrubland, brooms, pastureland and stone quarries, and considerable amounts of livestock, when possible.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: We have the endemic subspecies hispaniensis in the peninsula, which is distributed throughout the mountainous massifs of the northern third of the peninsula, forming three concentrations: the Pyrenees, the western Iberian System, and the Cantabrian Mountains.

In Castile and León: Its distribution is limited to two concentrations: the Cantabrian Mountains and foothills, and more rarely in the Iberian System. It breeds in León, Zamora, Palencia, Burgos and Soria, and the densest concentrations are found in Mampodre and Riaño (León), Fuentes Carrionas (Palencia) and Sanabria (Zamora).

Movements and migrations: It only makes altitudinal movements in winter: from mountainous areas to valley bottoms.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of 2000-6000 breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: There is an estimated population of 900-1200 breeding pairs.