''Ammoperdix'' is a small genus in the pheasant family

Phasianidae Phasianidae is a family (biology), family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, grouse, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, Turkey bird, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular Game (hu ...

of the order

Galliformes Galliformes is an order (biology), order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkey (bird), turkeys, chickens, Old World quail, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems ...

Species

It contains two similar species: The see-see partridge occurs in southwest

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, and the sand partridge in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. Both are resident breeders in dry, open country, often in hill areas. Both

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 ar ...

s in this genus are long, rotund

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s. They are mainly sandy brown, with wavy white and brown stripes on their flanks. The males have distinctively-patterned grey heads, but the females are very washed-out in comparison, and this lack of a distinctive head pattern makes it more difficult to distinguish their species. When disturbed, ''Ammoperdix'' partridges prefer to run rather than take to the air, but if necessary they will fly a short distance on rounded wings.

References

* ''Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse'' by Madge and McGowan, {{Taxonbar, from=Q695754 Bird genera Taxa named by John Gould