The bar-backed partridge (''Arborophila brunneopectus''), also known as the brown-breasted hill-partridge, is a species of
partridge
A partridge is a medium-sized Galliformes, galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide Indigenous (ecology), native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They a ...
in the family
Phasianidae
The Phasianidae are a family (biology), family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, Turkey bird, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular Game (hunti ...
. It is found in southwestern
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
.
Taxonomy
English zoologist
Edward Blyth
Edward Blyth (23 December 1810 – 27 December 1873) was an English zoologist who worked for most of his life in India as a curator of zoology at the museum of the Asiatic Society of India in Calcutta.
Blyth was born in London in 1810. In 1841 ...
first described the bar-backed partridge in 1855.
The bar-backed partridge has three recognized
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
:
* ''A. b. albigula''
(Robinson & Kloss, 1919)
* ''A. b. brunneopectusI''
(Blyth, 1855)
* ''A. b. henrici''
( Oustalet,1896)
These subspecies differ in colouration and patterns of their underparts and head, respectively.
Some identify the
chestnut-bellied partridge
The chestnut-bellied partridge (''Arborophila javanica'') also known as chestnut-bellied hill-partridge or Javan hill-partridge is a small, up to 28 cm long, partridge with a rufous crown and nape, red legs, grey breast, brown wings, red faci ...
and
grey-breasted partridge
The grey-breasted partridge (''Arborophila orientalis''), also known as the white-faced hill partridge, or Horsfield's hill partridge, is a bird species in the family Phasianidae.
It is endemic to highland forest in the eastern salient of Java, ...
or even the
Sichuan partridge
The Sichuan partridge (''Arborophila rufipectus'') is a bird species in the family Phasianidae. It is found only in China where it is classified as a nationally protected animal. Its natural habitat is temperate forest. It is threatened by habit ...
or
red-breasted partridge as
superspecies of the bar-backed partridge.
Description
The bar-backed partridge is typically long in total, with an average wingspan of for males and for females of the species. They usually have tails, and their bills are about in length. On average, males have a
tarsus, while females have .
The males are similar in color to females. It is mostly
buff
Buff or BUFF may refer to:
People
* Buff (surname), a list of people
* Buff (nickname), a list of people
* Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955)
* Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional wr ...
in color, with black running from the beak, around the eyes, and to the throat, as well as a black crown and feather tips along its back. It has red eyelids, and its wing feathers are white with black tips, adding brown near the back of the bird.
Distribution and habitat
The bar-backed partridge is found in
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, and
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
over an estimated .
Its natural
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
s and subtropical or tropical moist
montane forest
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...
s. It is typically found at relatively low elevations, under , but have been seen at and above.
Behaviour
They flock in groups of about 4–9, usually consisting of two parents and their latest offspring or sometimes two families. They feed on seeds, small shells, and insects found in leaves on the
forest floor
The forest floor, also called detritus, duff and the O horizon, is one of the most distinctive features of a forest ecosystem. It mainly consists of shed vegetative parts, such as leaves, branches, bark, and stems, existing in various stage ...
. When disturbed by humans, they quickly scatter into the underbrush. Captive male bar-backed partridges attract a mate by exposing the red feathers around their throat and calling. They breed around May to June, and their eggs are usually laid in a hole covered with bamboo and grass.
Status
The bar-backed partridge has been evaluated as
Least Concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
by the
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
due to its large range; however, its population is slowly declining because of habitat loss and hunting, although this decline is not steep enough to make it
Vulnerable.
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q776273
bar-backed partridge
Birds of Laos
Birds of Thailand
Birds of Vietnam
Birds of Yunnan
bar-backed partridge
bar-backed partridge
Articles containing video clips
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot