The sand partridge (''Ammoperdix heyi'') is a gamebird in the pheasant family

Phasianidae 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 ...

of the order

Galliformes Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are ofte ...

, gallinaceous birds. This

partridge 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 Perd ...

has its main native range from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

east to south

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Pl ...

. It is closely related and similar to its counterpart in southeast

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

and east to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, the

see-see partridge The see-see partridge (''Ammoperdix griseogularis'') is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. This partridge has its main native range from southeast Turkey through Syria and Iraq east to ...

, ''Ammoperdix griseogularis''. This 22–25 cm

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

is a resident breeder in dry, open and often hilly country. It nests in a scantily lined ground scrape laying 5-7 eggs. The sand partridge takes a wide variety of seeds and some insect food.

Description

The sand partridge is a rotund bird, mainly sandy-brown with wavy white and brown flank stripes. The male has a grey head with a white stripe in front of the eye and a white cheek patch. The neck sides are plain, and not speckled with white. The head pattern is the best distinction from see-see partridge. The female is a very washed-out version of the male, and is more difficult to distinguish from its relative due to the weak head pattern. When disturbed, sand partridge prefers to run rather than fly, but if necessary it flies a short distance on rounded wings. The song is a slurred ''kwa-kwa-kwa''.

References

* ''Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse'' by Madge and McGowan, sand partridge Birds of North Africa Birds of the Middle East sand partridge {{Galliformes-stub