The chestnut-necklaced partridge (''Tropicoperdix charltonii'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Phasianidae Phasianidae is a family (biology), family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, grouse, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, Turkey bird, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular Game (hu ...

. It is found in forests in the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

and

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

and trapping. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

(IUCN) has assessed it as vulnerable.

Taxonomy

This species was described by

Thomas Campbell Eyton Thomas Campbell Eyton JP, DL (10 September 1809 – 25 October 1880) was an English naturalist whose fields were cattle, fishes and birds. He was a friend and correspondent of Charles Darwin though he opposed his theories. Eyton was born at ...

as ''Perdix Charltonii'' in 1845. The

IOC World Bird List ''Birds of the World: Recommended English Names'' is a paperback book written by Frank Gill and Minturn Wright on behalf of the International Ornithologists' Union. The book is an attempt to produce a standardized set of English names for all bi ...

recognises the subspecies ''T. c. charltonii'' found in the Malay Peninsula, ''T. c. atjenensis'' in Sumatra. Some authorities have considered the

green-legged partridge The green-legged partridge (''Tropicoperdix chloropus''), also known as the scaly-breasted partridge or green-legged hill-partridge, is a bird species in the family Phasianidae. It is found in forest in Indochina, ranging slightly into southernm ...

(''A. chloropus'') to be conspecific with this species. The Sabah partridge (''T. graydoni'') was also previously considered conspecific.

Description

The chestnut-necklaced partridge is long. The male weighs about and the female weighs about . The crown and nape are brown, with dark speckles. The whitish

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also k ...

, throat and neck have brown streaks. The upper breast is chestnut, with a blackish collar above it. The lower breast is brown, and the belly and flanks are buff. There are dark scales on the lower breast and flanks. The upperparts are brown, finely marked blackish and buff. The beak is greenish yellow, and the legs are yellow. The female bird is smaller and a little duller than the male. The subspecies ''atjenensis'' has brighter plumage, and ''graydoni'' has greenish-yellow legs.

Distribution and habitat

This partridge is found in the Thai-Malay Peninsula,

Aceh Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...

, and

South Sumatra South Sumatra () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the southeast of the island of Sumatra. The capital and largest city of the province is the city of Palembang. The province borders the provinces of Jambi to the north ...

. Its habitat is lowland evergreen forest and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

Behaviour

This partridge probably forages in small groups, eating seeds, berries and termites. Its breeding has not been recorded. Its call is loud, steady couplets and triplets of whistles, and pairs often duet.

Status

The number of mature individuals is probably less than 10,000 and may be less than 2500. On Sumatra, the species has rarely been recorded recently. It is suspected to be declining because

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksforest fire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a bushfire ( in Australia), dese ...

s have destroyed much habitat and it is trapped and traded. The IUCN has assessed it as a

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...

. The IOC, IUCN and Clements considers ''T. c. graydoni'', the Sabah partridge, a separate species and has assessed it to be near threatened.

Taxonomy

Description

Distribution and habitat

Behaviour

Status

References

Further reading