Snow partridge

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Snow partridge
Snow Partridge Tungnath Uttarakhand India 01.12.2015.jpg
Snow Partridge from Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Subfamily: Phasianinae
Genus: Lerwa
Hodgson, 1837
Species:
L. lerwa
Binomial name
Lerwa lerwa
(Hodgson, 1833) [2]
Synonyms

Lerwa nivicola
Perdix lerwaprotonym

The snow partridge (Lerwa lerwa) is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae found widely distributed across the high-altitude Himalayan regions of Pakistan, China, India and Nepal. It is the only species within its genus, and is thought to be the most basal member of the "erectile clade" of the subfamily Phasianinae. The species is found in alpine pastures and open hillside above the treeline but not in as bare rocky terrain as the Himalayan snowcock and is not as wary as that species. Males and females look similar in plumage but males have a spur on their tarsus.

Contents

Description

Head showing barring and curved beak LerwaFBI.jpg
Head showing barring and curved beak

This partridge appears grey above and chestnut below with bright red bill and legs and the upperparts finely barred in black and white. In flight the pattern of dark brown primaries and secondaries with a narrow trailing white margin make them somewhat like the much larger Tibetan snowcock. The 14-feathered tail is dark and barred in white. There is variation in the shade and some birds have a nearly black crown. [3] The primaries and secondaries are brown and the breast is deep chestnut. The abdomen has more white and the lower flanks and feathers around the vent are barred brown and white. The under-tail coverts are chestnut with black shaft streaks and white tips. Young birds have the lower parts mottled and the barring less distinct. The tarsus is feathered on the front of the leg half-way to the toes. [4] [5] [6]

Illustration by John Gould Lerwa lerwa.jpg
Illustration by John Gould

It measures 38–40 cm in length. Females weigh 450–580 g; males, 550–700 g. Sexes are similar in plumage, female lacks spurs on the tarsus while the male has a blunt spur and sometimes a second incipient spur. Downy chicks have a resemblance to the chicks of the blood pheasant. [7] Chicks are born with the tarsi feathered and the nostril opening is covered by feathers. [8]

Taxonomy and systematics

This species was first described by Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1833 and given the genus name Lerwa based on the Bhutia name for it in Nepal. [9] [10] Hodgson initially placed it in the genus Perdix calling it Perdix lerwa. [11] A subspecies, L. l. major was described by Richard Meinertzhagen from Sichuan while L. l. callipygia from south Kansu was noted by Stegmann in 1938, but these are not usually recognized. [12] [13] [14] The species has been retained in this monotypic genus due to various peculiarities including the tarsus feathering and the lack of clear sexual dimorphism in plumage. [7] A species of bird louse, Chelopistes lervicola has been described as an ectoparasite of this species, and other species in this louse genus are known to parasitize the Cracidae, Meleagrididae and Odontophorinae of the New World. [15]

Distribution and status

Snow partridge is found in the Himalayas from Pakistan to Arunachal Pradesh along the higher ranges, mainly 3000 to 5000 m (rarely below 2000 m) altitude. It is found above the tree line but not on as bare and stony terrain as the snowcocks. [12] Although said to be found in Afghanistan, there is no evidence. [3] The species is found over a large area is generally considered to be of low conservation concern. It is hunted to some extent, due to its habit of being more approachable than snowcock and has declined in population in some areas. [7]

The usual habitat is alpine pastures, open grassy hillsides with grass, lichens, moss, ferns and rhododendrons. Is found among small snow-patches but not in as stony or bare ground as the snowcock. The birds however are very local in their distribution. [3] [7] [8]

Behaviour and ecology

Illustration from Hume and Marshall's Game birds of India (1890) Lerwa nivicola.jpg
Illustration from Hume and Marshall's Game birds of India (1890)

The snow partridge is found is small groups, usually about 6 to 8 but up to 30 during the non-breeding season. When flushed, they usually fly up before scattering away with noisy wing beats. The flight is rapid and stirring. It has a habit of sunning itself on rocks during the midday. [3] The call in the breeding season is said to resemble that of the grey francolin of the plains. [7] It has been compared in habit to that of the ptarmigan. It is said to feed on mosses, lichens, berries, and the shoots of plants. It also swallows grit to aid digestion. [10] [16] [17]

The breeding season is May to July. The males are believed to be monogynous. The nest is a scrape on a hill-side under some sheltering rock, either scratched out by themselves or already available, and usually hidden with vegetation. [10] The nest is sometimes lined with moss but well concealed although given away by the male. About 3 to 5 eggs, pale yellow in color and slightly glossy with reddish-brown markings on the rounded end, [10] are laid, and the female incubates while the male stands sentinel. Parent birds may use distraction displays to draw the attention of predators. They call in a comparatively softer lower note to the young, which respond with chicken-like cheep calls. [18] [19] [20] [21]

Apart from Chelopistes lervicola described as an ectoparasite of this species, an Argasid tick Argas himalayensis has been noted. [22] [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Partridge</span> Common name for a type of bird

A partridge is a medium-sized galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They are sometimes grouped in the Perdicinae subfamily of the Phasianidae. However, molecular research suggests that partridges are not a distinct taxon within the family Phasianidae, but that some species are closer to the pheasants, while others are closer to the junglefowl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phasianidae</span> Family of birds

The Phasianidae are a family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular gamebirds. The family is a large one and includes 185 species divided into 54 genera. It was formerly broken up into two subfamilies, the Phasianinae and the Perdicinae. However, this treatment is now known to be paraphyletic and polyphyletic, respectively, and more recent evidence supports breaking it up into two subfamilies: Rollulinae and Phasianinae, with the latter containing multiple tribes within two clades. The New World quail (Odontophoridae) and guineafowl (Numididae) were formerly sometimes included in this family, but are now typically placed in families of their own; conversely, grouse and turkeys, formerly often treated as distinct families, are now known to be deeply nested within Phasianidae, so they are now included in the present family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey partridge</span> Species of bird

The grey partridge, also known as the gray-legged partridge, English partridge, Hungarian partridge, or hun, is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. The scientific name is the Latin for "partridge", and is itself derived from Ancient Greek perdix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red spurfowl</span> Species of bird

The red spurfowl is a member of the pheasant family and is endemic to India. It is a bird of forests, and is quite secretive despite its size. It has a distinctive call and is often hard to see except for a few seconds when it flushes from the undergrowth. It appears reddish and like a long-tailed partridge. The bare skin around the eye is reddish. The legs of both males and females have one or two spurs, which give them their name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blood pheasant</span> Species of bird

The blood pheasant or blood partridge is the only species in genus Ithaginis of the pheasant family. It is a relatively small, short-tailed pheasant that is widespread and is fairly common in eastern Himalayas, ranging across India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, and northern Myanmar. Since the trend of the population appears to be slowly decreasing, the species has been evaluated as of least concern on the IUCN Red List in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snowcock</span> Genus of birds

The snowcocks or snowfowl are a group of bird species in the genus Tetraogallus of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. They are ground-nesting birds that breed in the mountain ranges of southern Eurasia from the Caucasus to the Himalayas and western China. Some of the species have been introduced into the United States. Snowcocks feed mainly on plant material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caucasian snowcock</span> Species of bird

The Caucasian snowcock is a snowcock in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds.

<i>Perdix</i> Genus of birds

Perdix is a genus of Galliform gamebirds known collectively as the 'true partridges'. These birds are unrelated to the subtropical species that have been named after the partridge due to similar size and morphology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tibetan partridge</span> Species of bird

The Tibetan partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes. They are found widely across the Tibetan Plateau and have some variations in plumage across populations. They forage on the ground in the sparsely vegetated high altitude regions, moving in pairs during the summer and in larger groups during the non-breeding season. Neither males nor females have spurs on their legs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey francolin</span> Species of bird

The grey francolin is a species of francolin found in the plains and drier parts of the Indian subcontinent and Iran. This species was formerly also called the grey partridge, not to be confused with the European grey partridge. They are mainly ground-living birds and are found in open cultivated lands as well as scrub forest and their local name of teetar is based on their calls, a loud and repeated Ka-tee-tar...tee-tar which is produced by one or more birds. The term teetar can also refer to other partridges and quails. During the breeding season calling males attract challengers, and decoys were used to trap these birds especially for fighting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Painted spurfowl</span> Species of bird

The painted spurfowl is a bird of the pheasant family found in rocky hill and scrub forests mainly in peninsular India. Males are more brightly coloured and spotted boldly in white. Males have two to four spurs while females can have one or two of the spurs on their tarsus. The species is found mainly in rocky and scrub forest habitats unlike the red spurfowl. It is found in the undergrowth in pairs or small groups, escaping by running and rarely taking to the wing when flushed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tibetan snowcock</span> Species of bird

The Tibetan snowcock is a bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. This species is found in high-altitude regions of the Western Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau, where it overlaps in part with the larger Himalayan snowcock. The head is greyish and there is a white crescent patch behind the eye and underside is white with black stripes. In flight the secondaries show a broad white trailing edge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swamp francolin</span> Species of bird

The swamp francolin, also called swamp partridge, is a francolin species native to the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India and Nepal. It is considered extinct in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Himalayan snowcock</span> Species of bird

The Himalayan snowcock is a snowcock in the pheasant family Phasianidae found across the Himalayan ranges and parts of the adjoining Pamir range of Asia. It is found on alpine pastures and on steep rocky cliffs where they will dive down the hill slopes to escape. It overlaps with the slightly smaller Tibetan snowcock in parts of its wide range. The populations from different areas show variations in the colouration and about five subspecies have been designated. They were introduced in the mountains of Nevada in the United States in the 1960s and a wild population has established in the Ruby Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mrs. Hume's pheasant</span> Species of bird

Mrs. Hume's pheasant, also known as Hume's pheasant or the bar-tailed pheasant, is a large, up to 90 cm (35 in) long, forest pheasant with a greyish brown head, bare red facial skin, chestnut brown plumage, yellowish bill, brownish orange iris, white wingbars and metallic blue neck feathers. The male has a long greyish white, barred black and brown tail. The female is a chestnut brown bird with whitish throat, buff color belly and white-tipped tail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bar-backed partridge</span> Species of bird

The bar-backed partridge, also known as the brown-breasted hill-partridge, is a species of partridge in the family Phasianidae. It is found in southwestern China and Southeast Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perdicinae</span> Subfamily of birds

Perdicinae is a polyphyletic former subfamily of birds in the pheasant family, Phasianidae, regrouping the partridges, Old World quails, and francolins. Although this subfamily was considered monophyletic and separated from the pheasants, tragopans, junglefowls, and peafowls (Phasianinae) till the early 1990s, molecular phylogenies have shown that these two subfamilies actually constitute only one lineage. For example, some partridges are more closely affiliated to pheasants, whereas Old World quails and partridges from the Alectoris genus are closer to junglefowls. Due to this, the subfamily Perdicinae is no longer recognized by the International Ornithological Congress, with the species being split among 3 subfamilies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vietnamese crested argus</span> Species of bird

The Vietnamese crested argus is a large and spectacular peafowl-like species of bird in the pheasant family with dark-brown-spotted black and buff plumage, a heavy pink bill, brown irises and blue skin around the eyes. The head has two crests; the hind crest, which extends down the occiput, is erected when alarmed and during intentional behaviors including pair bonding and courtship displays. The male has a broad and greatly elongated tail of twelve feathers. The tail covert of the male is the longest of any bird and is believed to contain the longest feathers to occur in a wild bird; the Reeves's pheasant has tail feathers of similar length but which are considerably narrower. The tail coverts measure up to 1.73 m (5.7 ft) in length, giving the bird a total length of 1.9–2.39 m (6.2–7.8 ft).

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Lerwa lerwa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22678649A92783114. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22678649A92783114.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Hodgson, B.H. (1833). "Description of Perdix Lerwa". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 107.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Rasmussen PC & JC Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Volume 2. Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions. pp. 118–119.
  4. ↑ Blanford, WT (1898). Fauna of British India. Birds. Vol. 4. Taylor and Francis, London. pp. 145–146.
  5. ↑ Oates, EW (1898). A manual of the Game birds of India. Part 1. A J Combridge, Bombay. pp. 196–199.
  6. ↑ Jerdon, TC (1864). The Birds of India. Volume 3. George Wyman & Co, London. pp. 555–557.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Ali, S & S D Ripley (1980). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 6–8. ISBN   0-19-562063-1.
  8. 1 2 Potapov, R.L. (2000). "New information on the snow partridge Lerwa lerwa (Hodgson 1833) and its systematic position". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 120 (2): 112–.
  9. ↑ Hume, A.O. & C.H.T. Marshall (1879). The Game Birds of India, Burmah, and Ceylon. Volume 2. Calcutta, A.O. Hume and Marshall. pp. 1–7.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Rutgers, A. (1968). Birds of Asia. Taplinger Publishing Co., Inc. p. 5. ISBN   978-0800807702.
  11. ↑ Hodgson, B.H. (1833). "Characters of a new species of Perdix (P. Lerwa)". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 107.
  12. 1 2 Baker, ECS (1928). Fauna of British India. Birds. Volume 5 (2nd ed.). Taylor and Francis, London. pp. 432–435.
  13. ↑ Meinertzhagen, R (1927). "Systematic Results of Birds collected at high altitudes in Ladak and Sikkim". Ibis. 69 (3): 571–633. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1927.tb05372.x.
  14. ↑ Marien, Daniel (1951). "Notes on some pheasants from southwestern Asia, with remarks on molt". American Museum Novitates (1518): 1–25. hdl:2246/3909.
  15. ↑ Clay, T (1974). "Geographical distribution of the avian lice (Phthiraptera): a review". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 71 (3): 536–547.
  16. ↑ Jerdon, TC (1864). The Game birds and Wild fowl of India. Military Orphan Press. pp. 68–70.
  17. ↑ Finn, Frank (1911). The game birds of India and Asia. Thacker, Spink & Co, Calcutta. pp. 91–92.
  18. ↑ Finn, Frank (1915). Indian Sporting Birds. Francis Edwards, London. pp. 240–242.
  19. ↑ Whymper, SL (1910). "Birds' nesting in Garhwal". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 19 (4): 990–991.
  20. ↑ Hume AO & CHT Marshall (1880). The Game birds of India, Burmah and Ceylon. Self published.
  21. ↑ Hume, AO (1890). The nests and eggs of Indian Birds. Volume 3 (2nd ed.). R H Porter, London. p. 428.
  22. ↑ Hoogstraal, H; Kaiser, MN (1973). "Observations on the Subgenus Argas (Ixodoidae: Argasidae, Argas). 7. A. (A.) himalayensis, New Species, Parasitizing the Snow Partridge, Lerwa lerwa, in Nepal". Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 66 (1): 1–3. doi:10.1093/aesa/66.1.1.
  23. ↑ Clay, Theresa (1941). "A new genus and species of Mallophaga" (PDF). Parasitology. 33: 119–129. doi:10.1017/S0031182000024318. S2CID   84303624.
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