Chukar Partridge

The chukar is a rotund partridge with a light-brown back, grey breast and buff belly. Its white face and throat are enclosed by a sharply defined black band that runs through the eye and forms a gorget. Bold black-and-white flank bars, red legs and a coral-red bill add further field marks. Females resemble males but average slightly smaller and lack the male's spur; the loud repeated chuck-chuck-chukar call gives the bird its English name. (Wikipedia, general species account)

Chukars inhabit rocky, open hillsides with grass, scattered scrub or cultivation, generally avoiding humid, high-rainfall country. The subspecies A. c. dzungarica occurs from northwestern Mongolia toward the Russian Altai, while A. c. potanini is associated with western Mongolia. Outside the breeding season birds gather in coveys, descending into valleys and fields in winter. They eat varied seeds and some insects, nest in a lightly lined ground scrape, and lay seven to fourteen eggs that hatch after about twenty-three to twenty-five days. (Wikipedia, general species account)