As the name implies, the gray partridge is painted very modestly. The main color prevails over a significant part of the body. The abdomen is white with a small reddish horseshoe-shaped spot on it.
The body is not a solid gray color: this coloration is noticeably set off by many brownish specks, which are especially numerous on the wings. As a rule, the gray partridge does not shine with large sizes: the male can weigh 500 grams, while the female rarely grows to 300 grams.
Most often these birds live in dry fields, ravines, beams, meadows, steppes and copses. Often, young partridges can be found even in a potato field, but much more often they feed in fields with grain crops. When autumn comes, the gray partridge moves to areas of fields overgrown with dry weeds.
In the Caucasus and in southern countries, they often climb into reed beds: of course, they are far from pheasants in this regard, but birds also love thick and strong shelters.
The main difference and unique feature of partridges is that they not only do not avoid plowing and cultivation of land, but evenspread after them to previously uninhabited areas. That is why they are extremely valuable for hunting.
Given that today the gray partridge is one of the most common game birds, it is hunted in large quantities.
As can be judged by the distribution areas, these are mainly terrestrial birds. From a distance, they can be confused with domestic chickens, because most often partridges dig in the ground and run across the field. This impression is erroneous: birds fly excellently.
Frightened from their feeding area, they break off the field, making a terrible noise. Their flight is peculiar, since its trajectory is almost straight and located almost close to the ground. Considering its lifestyle, it is not surprising that the gray partridge is a purely social bird, and loners can only be found during the mating season.
They break into pairs in early April. But now the nesting time comes no later than the second half of May, and only in the southern regions it can be earlier.
Birds never make complicated nests. The place for incubation for eggs and raising chicks is just a small hole right in the ground, at the bottom of which feathers and fluff lie casually. Partridge fecundity is impressive, as mature females can lay up to 26 eggs at a time.
Chickens appear in three weeks. They have a brownish-yellowish color with rare black spots. Just a couple of hours after leaving the egg, the chick is already veryruns fast. The photo of the gray partridge in the article shows how small they are at the same time.
After a week they are already flying, as flight feathers grow back at an astonishing rate. Characteristically, both parents are at the same time during the brood. For quite a long time they have been teaching the younger generation all the tricks of survival. The male is often heroic, drawing out large predators when they come dangerously close to the nest.
In general, the bird is very typical for our country: even World War II veterans say that the voice of the gray partridge, heard by them in a foreign land, reminded them of their home.
