Mountain bamboo partridge

The mountain bamboo partridge is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Tibet, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

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Distribution

Region

Southeast Asia and Himalayan foothills

Typical Environment

Occurs from northeastern India and Bangladesh through Myanmar and into southern China (including Tibet), Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. It favors dense bamboo stands within montane and foothill forests, as well as secondary growth, scrub, and forest edges. The species often uses steep, brushy slopes and gullies where bamboo forms a thick understory. It may venture to nearby cultivated margins but remains close to cover. Local presence can be patchy, tracking the availability of bamboo thickets.

Altitude Range

300–2600 m

Climate Zone

Highland

Characteristics

Size30–34 cm

Wing Span40–50 cm

Male Weight0.42 kg

Female Weight0.38 kg

Life Expectancy6 years

Ease of Keeping

Beginner friendly: 2/5

Useful to know

A shy, ground-dwelling partridge that keeps to dense bamboo thickets and adjacent understory. It often moves in small coveys and bursts into flight with an explosive, whirring takeoff when flushed. Its preference for bamboo habitat links its distribution to montane and foothill forests across parts of South and Southeast Asia. By eating seeds and invertebrates, it helps with seed dispersal and natural pest control.

Gallery

Behaviour

Temperament

shy and secretive

Flight Pattern

short rapid wingbeats with brief glide

Social Behavior

Usually encountered in pairs or small coveys that skulk through dense cover. Nests are shallow ground scrapes concealed in grass or bamboo, with breeding in the warm season. Coveys break up into breeding pairs, re-forming after the young are fledged.

Migratory Pattern

Resident

Song Description

A loud, far-carrying series of clear whistles and sharp notes, often delivered from cover. Calls can accelerate into a chattering sequence when birds are alarmed or keeping contact within a covey.

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Identification

Leg Colorpinkish-grey

Eye Colordark brown

Plumage

Heavily mottled and barred plumage with a mix of rufous, brown, buff, and grey tones; underparts show dark spotting and scaling. Face and neck are warm rufous with a contrasting pale throat often edged by a darker border. Back and wings are patterned with bold barring that provides excellent camouflage in bamboo litter. Sexes are similar, females slightly duller.

Feeding Habits

Diet

Feeds on a mix of seeds and grains, bamboo shoots and buds, tender leaves, berries, and various invertebrates such as beetles, ants, and small grubs. It scratches in leaf litter to uncover food and will pick seeds directly from fallen bamboo. Seasonal availability of bamboo seeds and forest fruits influences diet composition.

Preferred Environment

Forages on the ground under dense bamboo and tangles of understory near forest edges and along trails. It also uses scrubby hillsides and the margins of cultivated plots adjacent to forest, seldom straying far from cover.

Population

Total Known Populationunknown

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