The rock bush quail (''Perdicula argoondah'') is a species of

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New ...

found in parts of peninsular

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is a common species with a wide range and the

IUCN 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 status ...

has rated it as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

Taxonomy and systematics

There are three recognised subspecies: * ''P. a. argoondah'' found from

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

southwards to

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

* ''P. a. meinertzhageni'' found in northwestern India * ''P. a. salimalii'' found in South India in parts of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

Description

The rock bush quail is very similar to and overlaps in range with the

jungle bush quail The jungle bush quail (''Perdicula asiatica'') is a species of quail in the family Phasianidae. It is native to the Indian subcontinent, where it is found in peninsular India and Sri Lanka. It has also been reported from Nepal but has not been se ...

(''Perdicula asiatica''). These birds are found in small

covey A herd is a social group of certain animals of the same species, either wildness, wild or Domestication, domestic. The form of collective animal behavior associated with this is called ''herding''. These animals are known as gregarious animals ...

s and are often detected only when they suddenly burst out into flight en masse from under vegetation. It is in length and weighs . It is some shade of brown barred and mottled with darker colour. A diagnostic feature is that the outermost primary feather is longer than the innermost, and the inner web of the primaries is barred or speckled with buff. The voice is a trill followed by a series of piping notes which start quiet and grow louder.McGowan, P.J.K.; Boesman, P. (1994). Rock Bush-quail (''Perdicula argoondah''). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.) (2014). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Retrieved 2 August 2015

Distribution and habitat

The rock bush quail is native to the western half of India and is believed to be a non-migratory species. It occurs in arid areas with scrubby grassland and thorny bushes and is seldom found above about .

Status

The rock bush quail has a very wide range and is common in many parts of that range. 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 ...

has rated its conservation status as being of "

". Although the population has not been quantified, it is probably declining slowly, as the bird is subject to hunting pressure and destruction of its habitat. The rate of decline in population is insufficient to warrant listing the species in a more threatened category.

Notes

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1273414

rock bush quail The rock bush quail (''Perdicula argoondah'') is a species of quail found in parts of peninsular India. It is a common species with a wide range and the IUCN has rated it as being of "Least-concern species, least concern". Taxonomy and systemat ...

Birds of India Endemic birds of India

Quails