Birda Logo
Features
Birda+
About
Species Guide
Challenges
Shop
loading...

Daurian Partridge

Perdix dauurica

The Daurian partridge, also known as the steppe partridge, Asian grey partridge, or bearded partridge, is a plump gamebird belonging to the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is distinguished by its sandy-orange face and distinctive 'beard'—long feathers under the beak. The bird's head and underparts are pale slate-grey, accented with a buff line on the chest and a conspicuous black belly patch. Males are slightly more vivid and larger than females, with the latter sporting a smaller belly patch.

Identification Tips

Adults measure approximately 28–30 cm in length. During the fall, males weigh between 200–340 grams, while females tip the scales at 290–330 grams. To identify this species, look for the sandy-orange face, the beard-like feathers, and the unique chest and belly markings. The bird's song is a higher-pitched, faster version of the grey partridge's—a shrill, grating kieerr-ik.

Habitat

The Daurian partridge favors open grasslands or steppes, including agricultural areas. It thrives in temperate East Asia's open country, with a preference for landscapes that offer some bushes or open woodland for cover.

Distribution

This non-migratory terrestrial bird is found across a broad swath of temperate East Asia, from Kyrgyzstan to China and Mongolia. It often forms flocks in the non-breeding season and is known to share its range with the closely related grey partridge in some areas.

Behaviour

The Daurian partridge is most active during the cooler hours of dawn and dusk, opting to rest mid-day, particularly in warmer weather. When startled, it exhibits a characteristic explosive takeoff with rapid wingbeats, followed by a swift flight to nearby cover, all the while emitting an alarmed staccato hek-hek-hek.

Song & Calls

The bird's call is a distinctive and shrill kieerr-ik, reminiscent of the grey partridge but with a higher pitch and increased tempo.

Breeding

Breeding typically commences around the second to third week of May. The female prepares a nest lined with grass and twigs on the ground, often under a bush or within tall grass. Clutch sizes range from 13 to 20 olive-brown eggs. The chicks are pale yellow-brown with dark brown and rufous dapples.

Diet and Feeding

Daurian partridges primarily feed on seeds. However, chicks require a diet rich in insects to provide essential protein for their development. They are capable of short flights from as young as two weeks old.

Conservation status

The Daurian partridge is currently classified as Least Concern by the IUCN. However, there is concern that it may be over-hunted in certain parts of its range.

Similar Species

The Daurian partridge is similar to and closely related to the grey partridge, with which it forms a superspecies. It can be differentiated by its unique vocalizations and slight variations in plumage.

Subspecies

There are two recognized subspecies of the Daurian partridge:

  • P. d. dauurica (Pallas, 1811)
  • P. d. suschkini (Poliakov, 1915)

The subspecies vary mainly in plumage, with those found further east exhibiting darker and more rufous coloring.

App logo
Birda is a birdwatching app and community aimed at curious people who want to deepen their connection with nature.

Daurian Partridges on Birda

Sightings
A map showing the sighting location
🦉
Jeremie Berlioux
19 Mar 2023 - 6:04pm
Kyrgyzstan

More Pheasants & Allies

A photo of a Barbary Partridge (Alectoris barbara)

Barbary Partridge

Alectoris barbara
Birda Logo

Your birdwatching journey like never before

Connect with nature in minutes
Take a walk, look out of the window and log the birds that you see. Feel good about those little connections to nature.
Discover the joy of birding
Find new birding spots, see more birds, share and celebrate with a like-minded community of nature lovers.
Play your part in saving nature
Logging your birding sightings and sessions turns into positive action for our planet. Every sighting counts.

Birda Blog

What Our Birders Say
Viperray5
Loving it
I really enjoy being able to interact with other birders on this platform! This seems like a great way to meet other birders and find some new spots.
Leonie
We've been waiting for an App like this
Excellent! We've been waiting for an app like this! Thank you! It would be nice if you could assign additional birds to sessions later!
Nicole
Gets me outdoors more
I'm still loving this app. I use it most days & gets me outdoors more. Enjoying watching others progress and photo's, it's improved my wellbeing.... I love this app! I can keep a record of sightings and see what others have seen too.
Jane N
A great app
Enjoying it immensely and finding it useful too. Recording the different birds and counting them is showing me how the present climate is affecting them all. I've trebled the numbers by planting native hedging. A great app.
Nedz53
Really useful
Downloaded to give it a try, everything worked perfectly, recorded my first bird watching walk. Very impressed. Have already recommended to friends!
Chudbond
Love Birda
I love this app. It really encourages you to log your sightings and the community is friendly and helpful.
Nick S
Work together with community
Been loving using this app to log my bird sightings and work together with community members to identify different birds. I've already learned a lot since I started about a month ago!
Foxgirl100
Great app for beginner twitchers
I’ve had a passion of photographing birds for a long time now but have only just gotten into proper birdwatching, and this app is brilliant for those just getting started. There is a great sense of community among users and the app is very easy to use and professional. Awesome app altogether
Dunners12345
Great App
Great app to use for logging and communicating with others who are interested in birds
Hip An
Fantastic
Really enjoying Birda where I live i have a lot of Red kites really hard to photograph but I can video are you planning some place on the app where us Birda can post vids🦉🦅
As featured in
Birda Logo
AboutPressAmbassadorsAffiliatesInfluencersCareersPrivacyTerms & Conditions
An app for birdwatchers
Connect with us
Copyright © 2024 Chirp Birding. All rights reserved.