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.
The red-legged partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. It is sometimes known as French partridge, to distinguish it from the English or grey partridge. The genus name is from Ancient Greek alektoris a farmyard chicken, and rufa is Latin for red or rufous.
The chukar partridge, or simply chukar, is a Palearctic upland gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. It has been considered to form a superspecies complex along with the rock partridge, Philby's partridge and Przevalski's partridge and treated in the past as conspecific particularly with the first. This partridge has well-marked black and white bars on the flanks and a black band running from the forehead across the eye down the head to form a necklace that encloses a white throat. Native to Asia, the species has been introduced into many other places and feral populations have established themselves in parts of North America and New Zealand. This bird can be found in parts of Middle East and temperate Asia.
Ammoperdix is a small genus in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes. It contains two similar species:
Alectoris is a genus of partridges in the family Phasianidae, closely related to Old World quail, snowcocks (Tetraogallus), partridge-francolins (Pternistis), bush quail (Perdicula), and sand and see-see partridges (Ammoperdix). Members of the genus are known collectively as rock partridges. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek: αλέκτωρ, romanized: alektoris, meaning "chicken" or "farmyard fowl".
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.
The chestnut-bellied partridge also known as chestnut-bellied hill-partridge or Javan hill-partridge is a small, up to 28 cm long, partridge with a rufous crown and nape, red legs, grey breast, brown wings, red facial skin, and a black mask, throat and bill. It has a rufous belly with white on the middle. The sexes are similar. The young has a whitish face and a reddish brown bill.
Arborophila is a bird genus in the family Phasianidae. The genus has the second most members within the Galliformes after Pternistis, although Arborophila species vary very little in bodily proportions with different species varying only in colouration/patterning and overall size. These are fairly small, often brightly marked partridges found in forest of eastern and southern Asia. Some species in this genus have small ranges, and are threatened by habitat loss and hunting.
The chestnut-necklaced partridge is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is found in forests in the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. It is threatened by habitat loss and trapping. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as vulnerable.
The white-necklaced partridge, also known as the collared partridge or Rickett's hill-partridge, is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is endemic to southeastern China. It is threatened by habitat loss and hunting, and the IUCN has assessed it as near-threatened.
The red-breasted partridge, also known as the Bornean hill-partridge, is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is endemic to hill and montane forest in Borneo, preferring bamboos and thickets. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as a least-concern species.
Bamboo partridges, sometimes called ridge partridges, are medium-sized non-migratory birds of the genus Bambusicola in the family Phasianidae.They have a wide native distribution throughout Asia. They were formerly 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. Phylogenetic evidence supports the bamboo partridges as being the sister genus to the junglefowl.
The crimson-headed partridge is a species of bird in the pheasant, partridge, and francolin family Phasianidae. Described by the British ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1879, it is the only species in the genus Haematortyx. It is endemic to Borneo, where it inhabits lower montane forest in the northern and central parts of the island. It is mainly found at elevations of 1,000–1,700 m (3,300–5,600 ft), but can be seen as low as 185 m (607 ft) and as high as 3,050 m (10,010 ft). Adult males have a striking appearance, with a dark blackish body and crimson red heads, necks, breasts, and undertail coverts. Females have a similar pattern, but with duller brownish-black colouration, orangish-red heads and breasts, and a brownish-black bill instead of a yellowish one. Juveniles are duller and have the crimson restricted to the top of the head.
Rhizothera is a bird genus in the family Phasianidae, native to Malaysia and Indonesia. They are the only genus in the tribe Rhizotherini. Established by George Robert Gray in 1841, it contains the following species:
Szechenyi's monal-partridge, also known as buff-throated partridge or buff-throated monal-partridge, is a member of the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. They are endemic to western China.
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.
Pternistis is a genus of galliform birds formerly classified in the spurfowl group of the partridge subfamily of the pheasant family. They are described as "partridge-francolins" in literature establishing their phylogenetic placement outside the monophyletic assemblage of true spurfowls. All species are endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa, excepted the double-spurred spurfowl. They are commonly known as spurfowls or francolins, but are closely related to jungle bush quail, Alectoris rock partridges, and Coturnix quail. The species are strictly monogamous, remaining mated indefinitely. They procure most of their food by digging. Spurfowls subsist almost entirely on roots, beans of leguminous shrubs and trees, tubers, and seeds, and feasting opportunistically on termites, ants, locusts, flowers, and fruit. Important predators are jackals, caracals, servals, and birds of prey, as well as herons and marabou storks.
Old World quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds in the tribe Coturnicini of the pheasant family Phasianidae. Although all species commonly referred to as "Old World quail" are in the same tribe, they are paraphyletic with respect to the other members of the tribe, such as Alectoris, Tetraogallus, Ammoperdix, Margaroperdix, and Pternistis.
