The common hill partridge, necklaced hill partridge, or simply hill partridge (''Arborophila torqueola'') 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

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

found in Asia.

Description

Males of the species have ornate patterns and markings, a combination of an orange crown and face set against a black head and streaked throat. Females lack the distinctive head markings and the grey chest and upper belly of the male, with the flank colouration of white streaked ginger-brown feathers extending further up and across the belly of the hen. Four subspecies have been identified on the basis of differences on the head markings on the male. The length of this species is roughly and weight can vary between for a small female to for a large fat male.

Behaviour

Common hill-partridges are mostly seen in pairs or small coveys of up to 10 individuals that may be made up of family groups.

Breeding

Indian populations of common hill-partridges breed between April and June, although earlier breeding has been recorded at lower altitudes. The average

clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...

size is 3-5 eggs but up to nine eggs have also been observed (in captivity, clutches of greater than 3 eggs are essentially unknown). Eggs are white, incubation times are unrecorded in wild birds but are reported to be 24 days for captive birds. The nest is a ball of whatever manageable materials are within a few feet of the nest site with a lined shallow scrape at the centre to form the cup of the nest. In captivity the structure is generally unstable unless supported, typically within low-growing vegetation or roots.

Feeding

The food of the common hill-partridge comprises seeds and various

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordat ...

, which it collects by scratching in leaf litter. It has a hen-like contact call that is constantly uttered when it is feeding.

Distribution and habitat

The common hill-partridge range spans over a narrow band from the western

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

to north

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 ...

. It is found in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

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 Wells explai ...

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 b ...

and

. 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 Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discon ...

and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. The species is not globally threatened and is common in most parts of its range.

References

{{Authority control hill partridge Birds of the Himalayas Birds of Northeast India Birds of Tibet Birds of Yunnan hill partridge Taxonomy articles created by Polbot