The Chinese bamboo partridge (''Bambusicola thoracicus'') is a small Galliform bird. It is one of three species in the genus '' Bambusicola'', along with the mountain bamboo partridge of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

, and the Taiwan bamboo partridge of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. Chinese bamboo partridge is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

species.

Description

The Chinese bamboo partridge is a small bird, intermediate in size between the ''

Coturnix ''Coturnix'' is a genus of five extant species and five to eight known extinct species of Old World quail. Range These species are distributed throughout Africa, Eurasia, Australia, and formerly New Zealand. An extinct Adaptive radiation, radiat ...

'' and ''

Perdix ''Perdix'' is a genus of Galliformes, 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 (biology), m ...

'' species, reaching a size of 31cm, with males being slightly larger than females. The breast and back are mottled in black, chestnut, and cream colours, with black spots on the flanks and above. The partridge's face and throat have rich

fulvous Fulvous is a colour, sometimes described as dull orange, brownish-yellow or tawny; it can also be likened to a variation of buff, beige or butterscotch. As an adjective it is used in the names of many species of birds, and occasionally other ...

and

rufous Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish- red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a d ...

tints. The breast is yellow-

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...

, with pale greyish blue and taupe above the eye and down to the neck. Like the long-billed partridge, bamboo partridge exhibit well-developed

flight feather Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tai ...

s. Their tails are broad and squared. The wings are long and narrow. The birds are capable of sustained flight and move from the sub-canopy of steep hillside forest to the forest floor several times throughout the day. Bamboo partridge closeup

Behaviour

Like many Galliform bird species, the birds prefer hiding to flight, but will readily flush if approached, startling pursuers with loud wingbeats. Within the forest, bamboo partridge are known to fly uphill, weaving through timber. This is an unusual behaviour, recorded only in the unrelated koklass. Like the related ''

'' species,

francolin Francolins are birds in the tribe Gallini that traditionally have been placed in the genus ''Francolinus'', but now commonly are divided into multiple genera. As previously defined, they were paraphyletic as the genus '' Pternistis'', which wa ...

s and

junglefowl Junglefowl are the only four living species of bird from the genus ''Gallus'' in the bird order Galliformes, and occur in parts of South and Southeast Asia. One of the species in this genus, the red junglefowl, is of historical importance as the ...

, males broadcast loud, multi-syllabic calls throughout the day and throughout the year. These vocalisations serve as challenges to other birds as well as location calls and anti-predator alarms. The loud contact call, often rendered as ''ki-ko-kuai'' or ''kojukei'' (the latter rendition being adopted as its Japanese name) is repeated several times before slowing to a stop. This call is heard far more than the bird is usually seen, and though the species is common throughout its limited range, it is elusive and secretive.

Distribution and habitat

The bird is native to eastern

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

, and has been introduced successfully to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. It is found in warm forests and grasslands and is not entirely dependent on

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

, despite its name. The Taiwan bamboo partridge was formerly considered a subspecies.

Introductions

The bird was intentionally introduced first to Japan in 1919, then with varying success to Hawaii, where it is listed as an introduced bird not protected by the

Migratory Bird Treaty Act The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (MBTA), codified at (although §709 is omitted), is a United States federal law, first enacted in 1918 to implement the convention for the protection of migratory birds between the United States and Canada. ...

. An introduced population also exists on remote

Iwo Jima is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although sout ...

. Despite its success elsewhere, Chinese bamboo partridge has been extirpated from

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, and a reintroduction program in 1961 failed to produce a viable breeding population. Partridges foraging japan

Aviculture

Chinese bamboo partridges have been part of Chinese aviculture for centuries. In captivity, these tiny birds are pugnacious and care should be taken as to what other terrestrial species should be kept in mixed-species aviaries. They are compatible with crestless firebacks and eared pheasants but not with

References

External links

* * The genetic link between the Chinese bamboo partridge (Bambusicola thoracica) and the chicken and junglefowls of the genus Gallus.A Fumihito, T Miyake, M Takada, S Ohno, and N KondoYamashina Institute for Ornithology, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
Chinese Bamboo Partridge
at gbwf.org
Chinese Bamboo-Partridge
at Avibase {{Taxonbar, from=Q1074291 Chinese bamboo partridge Birds of China Chinese bamboo partridge