Birds of Iraq: Chukar Partridge

The Chukar Partridge, also known as the Kew, or Chukker is a long partridge, usually light brown, grey chested, with a little puff belly.  They can come in a variety of shades across different populations.  On their haunch area, they are a reddish-brownish color, red legs, and have a coral colored beak. Their tails have exactly fourteen feathers on them.  Both the male and the femal Chukar are the same besides the fact that the female Chukar is somewhat smaller, and missing the spur.  

They usually make calling noises during the mornings and evenings. Their call is repetitive, loud, and sounds like "chuck" which is where they get their name from.  There seems to be no correlation to their population and being effected by hunting, or the loss of their habitat.  One thing that does in fact have an effect on their population is the weather patterns during their mating season which is in the summer. 

 Once the summer comes, the Chukar birds begin to pair up so that way they could begin to breed.  At this time, the male Chukar birds being to become aggressive. Once the winter arrives, they start to move into valleys, and other fields used to feed.  When they are not in their breeding season, these birds can be found in small flocks, ranging from ten to fifty birds.  When the mother lays her eggs, there usually is between seven to fourteen eggs that are laid. It is only after twenty-three to twenty-five days that have gone by that the eggs are able to hatch and join the flock.  When these birds get upset or feel bothered, they seem to chose running over flying. If the bird happens to chose to fly, it will only fly for a very short distance, in a slope motion with it's wings rounded while making it's "chuck" noises.