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26 April 2016

Arabian Partridge – Asir Mountains

I have recently done a couple of trips to the Asir mountains and seen plenty of Arabian Partridges including good numbers on the Raydah Escarpment. The Arabian Partridge is an endemic to Arabia and occurs mainly in the Asir Mountains. The subspecies occurring in Saudi Arabia is A. m. melanocephala from Madinah in northern Hejaz south to the Yemen boarder. They also occur in Yemen and  western Oman east to Dhofar. Differs from other Alectoris including Philby’s Partridge by larger size (including longer tail and deeper belly), grey tail feathers (visible in flight), much broader white supercilium and black crown. They occur in stony and somewhat better-vegetated ground in hills, mountains and upland plains, from near sea level to 3000 m, including montane juniper forest where they are locally common. They feed mainly on vegetable matter, seeds and invertebrates where they forage and drink in the morning and evening in small groups.