Saw this guy in my backyard by the feeder; any clue as to what it is? About 10-12" tall. I apologize for the poor photos but he wasn’t real interested in letting me get any closer.
Regards,
Scott
Looks like a Chuker Partridge.
Tim
Is it a Bobwhite?
http://images.google.com/images?q=bobwhite&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi
Tim,
Chuckar - that’s a bingo. I knew it looked familiar (I have a skin in my flytying stuff) but I couldn’t find it in any of my local guidebooks since they don’t live in Virginia. My neighbor trains German Shorthairs and I’m guessing one of his flock flew the coop. Thanks for the I.D.
Regards,
Scott
I posted to slow. Looks like you may be right. Here is a Chukar Partridge pulled from the web.
http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&safe=active&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbs=&ei=pSKtS5GqGYzcNY3s9LQO&sa=X&oi=spellfullpage&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=2&q=Chukar+Partridge&spell=1&start=0
Here’s one of their feathers…
I have hiked all up and down the palouse looking for those darn birds and you have them coming right into your backyard. What the heck?
In Virginia for goodness sake! Like I constantly tell my son, Life is not fair.
Regards,
Scott
The photo by Therm shows the spur which on a male is sharp, pointed where the hen has a round, blunt spur.
All feathers, colors are the same on both male & female. I used to raise a lot of them each year. They are used for fighting back in India, like game cocks used to be used in the USA. I have had some bad things happen when one tries to house them with other specie. Beautiful birds.
Thanks for sharing.
Denny
… chukar.
My second thought was - Scott - Virginia - no way - something else. ( Does all that count as one thought ?? )
Thanks for the explanation on how it got where it got. Pretty birds, for sure.
John
Must have escaped from a zoo or something. Chukars are supposed to live in the high desert, on hill sides that would scare a mountain goat, and eat cheatgrass. Can you say anomaly, amonily, ammonnaly, an ommily? You get the idea.
The Chuckar is back at the bird feeder again today; I would have figured foxes would have eaten it last night. Real skittish, can’t get close for a good photo.
Regards,
Scott
Here is some information on the Chukar from All About Birds from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Chukar/id
“A native of southern Eurasia, the Chukar was introduced into the United States from Pakistan to be a game bird. It lives in arid, rocky terrain across the western United States and southern Canada.”
They taste pretty good too! Pellet gun… Skin it out… Eat it… Catch fish with feathers… Be happy! G
Turns out the Chuckar is part of my neighbor’s flock; mystery solved. Thanks to everyone for your input.
Regards,
Scott
Great post. Answers a thought in my mind of what did I see about 25 years ago. I thought I was taking a Short Cut from San Franscisco over the mountain range to Las Vegas and on to Phoenix. Never been on the road before. Some short cut. Took us hours. Drove up to a very high elevation and there were these same birds! Never new what they were. Until now.
Thanks
Jim
Guess if it’s a neighbors bird no meal or tying materials.
mmmmmmMMMMMMM yummy