Red-legged Partridge

Alectoris rufa (Linnaeus, 1758) RL RELPA 3580
Family: Galliformes > Phasianidae

Red-legged Partridge, Moss Taylor

The Red-legged Partridge is a rather small dumpy bird with bright red legs, white cheeks and an ostentatious black spotted necklace.

The species first became established as a breeding bird in the late 1700s, when large numbers were hand-reared on the Duke of Hertford's Suffolk estate. Introduced for sporting purposes, the Red-legged Partridge is now a widespread bird of open country and can be found almost anywhere from Land’s End to John O Groats.

It is estimated that around 78,000 territories are occupied during the summer months, although numbers fluctuate widely because of the annual release of more birds into the population. Breeding Bird Survey data reveal a general decline in abundance since the late 1980s.

Select a topic for more facts and statistics about the Red-legged Partridge

  • Breeding
  • Winter

Exploring the trends for Red-legged Partridge

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Red-legged Partridge population is changing.

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Identification

Red-legged Partridge identification is usually straightforward. The following article may help when identifying Red-legged Partridge.

related video

Identifying partridges

Red-legged Partridge. Photograph by Jill Pakenham

Partridges are small, dumpy gamebirds found in lowland habitats. Alongside our UK native species, there is a second that has been introduced for shooting. This workshop video will help you tell the two apart.

SONGS AND CALLS

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Red-legged Partridge, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

Call

Song

Develop your bird ID skills with our training courses

Our interactive online courses are a great way to develop your bird identification skills, whether you're new to the hobby or a competent birder looking to hone your abilities.

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Status and Trends

Population size and trends and patterns of distribution based on BTO surveys and atlases with data collected by BTO volunteers.

CONSERVATION STATUS

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

POPULATION SIZE

POPULATION CHANGE

Since Red-legged Partridge is a non-native species released in the UK for the purpose of being shot by hunters, its long-term CBC/BBS population decrease in England raises no conservation concern. Significant increases shown in the UK and England during the first 10 years of BBS have been reversed during the second decade of BBS. Game-bag data show that the numbers released per unit area onto shooting estates, and the numbers shot, have both increased substantially (PACEC 2006, Aebischer 2019). There has been widespread moderate decline across Europe since 1998 (PECBMS: PECBMS 2020a>).

Exploring the trends for Red-legged Partridge

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Red-legged Partridge population is changing.

trends explorer

DISTRIBUTION

Red-legged Partridges are distributed widely across England, the eastern half and southwest of Scotland and the Isle of Man. In Wales they are found mainly in Anglesey and Pembrokeshire with scattered records elsewhere in the northeast and southeast. Records in Ireland are relatively scarce and come from agricultural areas.

Occupied 10-km squares in UK

European Distribution Map

European Breeding Bird Atlas 2

Breeding Season Habitats

Relative frequency by habitat

Relative occurrence in different habitat types during the breeding season.

>Bar of similar size indicate the species is equally likely to be recorded in those habitats

DISTRIBUTION CHANGE

The Red-legged Partridge change maps for winter and the breeding season show an increase in the number of occupied 10-km squares in north, northwest and southwest England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. These gains are likely to be mainly due to local releases, with some natural range expansion.

Change in occupied 10-km squares in the UK

SEASONALITY

Red-legged Partridges are recorded throughout the year.

Weekly occurence of Red-legged Partridge from BirdTrack
Weekly occurrence patterns (shaded cells) and reporting rates (vertical bars) based on BirdTrack data. Reporting rates give the likelihood of encountering the species each week.

Movement

Information about movement and migration based on online bird portals (e.g. BirdTrack), Ringing schemes and tracking studies.

RINGING RECOVERIES

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Biology

Lifecycle and body size information about Red-legged Partridge, including statistics on nesting, eggs and lifespan based on BTO ringing and nest recording data.

PRODUCTIVITY & NESTING

Exploring the trends for Red-legged Partridge

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Red-legged Partridge population is changing.

trends explorer

SURVIVAL & LONGEVITY

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Exploring the trends for Red-legged Partridge

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Red-legged Partridge population is changing.

trends explorer

BIOMETRICS

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

CODES & CLASSIFICATION

For information in another language (where available) click on a linked name

Gaelic: Cearc-thomain-dhearg-chasach
Welsh: Petrisen Goesgoch
Catalan: perdiu roja
Czech: orebice rudá
Danish: Rødhøne
Dutch: Rode Patrijs
Estonian: lääne-kivikana
Finnish: punapyy
French: Perdrix rouge
German: Rothuhn
Hungarian: vörös fogoly
Icelandic: Sandhæna
Irish: Patraisc Chosdearg
Italian: Pernice rossa
Latvian: kalnu irbe
Lithuanian: raudonkojis keklikas
Norwegian: Rødhøne
Polish: góropatwa czerwona
Portuguese: perdiz-comum
Slovak: kuropta cervená
Slovenian: španska kotorna
Spanish: Perdiz roja
Swedish: rödhöna
Folkname: French Partridge

Research

Interpretation and scientific publications about Red-legged Partridge from BTO scientists.

CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS

Causes of change

The population size of this species is principally determined by releases of reared birds for shooting. Little is known about the impacts of changes in demographic parameters among wild-breeding birds.

Further information on causes of change

It must be noted that numbers and distribution of this introduced gamebird are largely determined by releases of reared birds for shooting (Pringle et al. 2019). Game-bag data show that the numbers released per unit area onto shooting estates, and the numbers shot, have increased more than eightfold between 1980 and 2004: around 6.5 million birds were released annually in the UK in the early 2000s (PACEC 2006). This has since increased further to around 9.5 million birds in 2012 and around 10 million in 2016 (Aebischer 2019). Around 12.6 million Red-legged Partridges were recorded as being held in captivity before release in 2010, although this total may include some birds that died in captivity and hence were not released (Pringle et al. 2019).

Modelling suggests that climate change may also have had a positive impact on the long-term trend for this species, possibly caused by either improved breeding success or increased survival of released birds (Pearce-Higgins & Crick 2019).

Information about conservation actions

As a non-native introduced breeding species, Red-legged Partridge does not have a conservation status in the UK.

Large numbers of Red-legged Partridges are released annually in the UK, and concerns have been raised that this may impact negatively on the conservation status of some native species. There is now evidence that high densities of released Pheasant and Red-legged Partridges may be having a positive effect on some avian predator populations, by providing additional winter food resources and hence reducing winter mortality of predators; this may in turn impact negatively on other UK native birds during subsequent breeding seasons through increased levels of nest predation (Pringle et al. 2019). There is also evidence that shooting operations based on large-scale releases of Red-legged Partridges can lead to local extinction of the red-listed native Grey Partridge (Watson et al. 2007).

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