The rock bush quail (''Perdicula argoondah'') is a species of quail found in parts of peninsular

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is a common species with a wide range and 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 ...

has rated it as being of "

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 ...

Taxonomy and systematics

There are three recognised subspecies: * ''P. a. argoondah'' found from

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

southwards to

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

* ''P. a. meinertzhageni'' found in northwestern India * ''P. a. salimalii'' found in South India in parts of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Description

The rock bush quail is very similar to and overlaps in range with the jungle bush quail (''Perdicula asiatica''). These birds are found in small

covey A herd is a social group of certain animals of the same species, either wild or domestic. The form of collective animal behavior associated with this is called ''herding''. These animals are known as gregarious animals. The term ''herd'' is ...

s and are often detected only when they suddenly burst out into flight en masse from under vegetation. It is in length and weighs . It is some shade of brown barred and mottled with darker colour. A diagnostic feature is that the outermost primary feather is longer than the innermost, and the inner web of the primaries is barred or speckled with buff. The voice is a trill followed by a series of piping notes which start quiet and grow louder.McGowan, P.J.K.; Boesman, P. (1994). Rock Bush-quail (''Perdicula argoondah''). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.) (2014). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Retrieved 2 August 2015

Distribution and habitat

The rock bush quail is native to the western half of India and is believed to be a non-migratory species. It occurs in arid areas with scrubby grassland and thorny bushes and is seldom found above about .

Status

The rock bush quail has a very wide range and is common in many parts of that range. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature 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 ...

has rated its conservation status as being of "

". Although the population has not been quantified, it is probably declining slowly, as the bird is subject to hunting pressure and destruction of its habitat. The rate of decline in population is insufficient to warrant listing the species in a more threatened category.

Notes

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1273414

rock bush quail The rock bush quail (''Perdicula argoondah'') is a species of quail found in parts of peninsular India. It is a common species with a wide range and the IUCN has rated it as being of "least concern". Taxonomy and systematics There are three r ...

Birds of India Endemic birds of India