The chestnut-necklaced partridge (''Tropicoperdix charltonii'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the family

Phasianidae The Phasianidae are a family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular gamebirds. The family is a large one ...

. It is found in forests in the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula ( Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The ar ...

and

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and trapping. 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 ...

(IUCN) has assessed it as vulnerable.

Taxonomy

This species was described by

Thomas Campbell Eyton Thomas Campbell Eyton JP, DL (10 September 1809 – 25 October 1880) was an English naturalist whose fields were cattle, fishes and birds. He was a friend and correspondent of Charles Darwin though he opposed his theories. Eyton was born at ...

as ''Perdix Charltonii'' in 1845. The

IOC World Bird List ''Birds of the World: Recommended English Names'' is a paperback book, written by Frank Gill and Minturn Wright on behalf of the International Ornithologists' Union. The book is an attempt to produce a standardized set of English names for all b ...

recognises the subspecies ''T. c. charltonii'' found in the Malay Peninsula, ''T. c. atjenensis'' in Sumatra. Some authorities have considered the

green-legged partridge The green-legged partridge (''Tropicoperdix chloropus''), also known as the scaly-breasted partridge or green-legged hill-partridge, is a bird species in the family Phasianidae. It is found in forest in Indochina, ranging slightly into southern ...

(''A. chloropus'') to be conspecific with this species.

Description

The chestnut-necklaced partridge is long. The male weighs about and the female weighs about . The crown and nape are brown, with dark speckles. The whitish

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also k ...

, throat and neck have brown streaks. The upper breast is chestnut, with a blackish collar above it. The lower breast is brown, and the belly and flanks are buff. There are dark scales on the lower breast and flanks. The upperparts are brown, finely marked blackish and buff. The beak is greenish yellow, and the legs are yellow. The female bird is smaller and a little duller than the male. The subspecies ''atjenensis'' has brighter plumage, and ''graydoni'' has greenish-yellow legs.

Distribution and habitat

This partridge is found in the Thai-Malay Peninsula,

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a ...

, and

South Sumatra South Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Selatan) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southeast of the island of Sumatra, The province spans and had a population of 8,467,432 at the 2020 Census. The capital of the province is Palembang. The prov ...

. Its habitat is lowland evergreen forest and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. I ...

Behaviour

This partridge probably forages in small groups, eating seeds, berries and termites. Its breeding has not been recorded. Its call is loud, steady couplets and triplets of whistles, and pairs often duet.

Status

The number of mature individuals is probably less than 10,000 and may be less than 2500. On Sumatra, the species has rarely been recorded recently. It is suspected to be declining because

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply cha ...

and

forest fire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

s have destroyed much habitat and it is trapped and traded. The IUCN has assessed it as a

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatening its survival and reproduction improve. Vulnera ...

. The IOC, IUCN and Clements considers ''T. c. graydoni'', the Sabah partridge, a separate species and has assessed it to be near threatened.

Taxonomy

Description

Distribution and habitat

Behaviour

Status

References

Further reading