Chukar
Alectoris chukar
Also known as: Chukar Partridge, Chuckar
Habitat
Ground
Diet
PlantSeed
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
502 g
About This Species
This ground-dwelling partridge favours arid, rocky hillsides and scrubby slopes across its native range from the Middle East to Central Asia, and it has also established feral populations in parts of North America and elsewhere. It forages on seeds and shoots at dawn and dusk, often in coveys, and its loud, repetitive chukking call carries far across open terrain and is frequently the first clue to its presence. Scanning rocky slopes and canyon rims with binoculars in the early morning is usually the most productive approach.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Coveys are wary and will run uphill or take flight if approached directly, so maintaining a distance of 30-50 metres and moving slowly along contour lines rather than straight at the birds gives better and longer views.
- Legal protection differs sharply across its range: it is a protected native species in some countries and a regulated game or introduced species subject to hunting seasons in others, so check local rules rather than assuming one status applies everywhere.
- Avoid pushing birds off a slope repeatedly, since this wastes their energy reserves in already marginal habitat.
Seasonal Activity
212,925 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Phasianidae
Traits
- Diet
- PlantSeed
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 502 g
Photo
(c) Nick Moore, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Nick Moore
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.