Chestnut-breasted Partridge

Chestnut-breasted Partridge
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Subfamily: Perdicinae
Genus: Arborophila
Species: A. mandellii
Binomial name
Arborophila mandellii
Hume, 1874

The Chestnut-breasted Partridge (Arborophila mandellii) is a species of partridge endemic to the eastern Himalayas north of the Brahmaputra, and is known from Bhutan, West Bengal (Darjeeling only), Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, north-east India, Nepal Himalaya and south-east Tibet.

It is a distinctive partridge with chestnut breast-band and grey belly. It is distinguished from the similar Rufous-throated Partridge A. rufogularis by more rufescent crown and head-sides, white gorget and entirely chestnut upper breast.

This bird has been classified as Vulnerable, with an estimated population of less than 10,000. It is threatened by forest degradation, which is fragmenting the population, and by hunting. It is known from at least three protected areas, including Singalila National Park (West Bengal).

References