Bird Identification Needed

[mmattockx]

I just had these in my yard in the Olds, AB area. I thought they were ruffed grouse at first, but their breasts are plain grey and not speckled brown at all. Pics aren't great, I wasn't planning on needing them for ID when I took them. You can click on the picture for a larger version to see more detail.

So, what are they?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Evanguy]

From the pics they look like quail, maybe a partridge

 

[wjklassen]

I think they are Hungarian partridges that were introduced to the prairies in the 1940s. I remember them from Manitoba when I was a boy in the early 1950s.
From Wikipedia:
"It has been introduced widely as a gamebird into Canada, United States, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.[12] A popular gamebird in large areas of North America, it is sometimes known there as "Hungarian partridge" or just "hun"."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_partridge

 

[Silverado]

Huns?

 

[morp]

Looks like a good dinner to me!

 

[Redneck Hippy]

They have that galliforme shape that says eat me!
Based on the fact they were in your yard I’d have to go with perdix perdix who tolerate humans pretty well unless you are trying to hunt them haha

 

[jethunter]

The official name in the Alberta hunting regulations is Grey Partridge. Most prople i know call them Huns, or Hungarian partridge.

They are covey birds like quail. Huns are smaller than a Ruffed grouse. They tend to live in open or mixed farmland, not often found in forested areas.

Good hunting and eating.

 

[350tracker]

To me they look like Hungarian partridge and they are fast. I've come across them maybe once or twice and never was able take one.

 

[Lefty Dick]

Sure look like Grey Partridge (Hungarian)

 

[Titan 08]

They look like Hungarian Partridge, we actually have a flock in the green belt behind our home in Sherwood Park which eat at the birdseed we leave on the ground for birds. Extremely fast and very nervous, they flee at the slightest sound. They come twice a day in the winter to the seed pile. Fun birds to watch.

 

[mmattockx]

Looks like a good dinner to me!

I see a few groups of them around the fields here and this is why I ask. I needed to know what they were to check hunting regs and see if they are legal to hunt.

They have that galliforme shape that says eat me!
Based on the fact they were in your yard I’d have to go with perdix perdix who tolerate humans pretty well unless you are trying to hunt them haha

Well, I live in the county on 9.5 acres and my 'yard' is just the area between the house and corrals. I've seen these around the outer edges of our property and along the ditches and patches of bush in the fields, but never this close to the house before. The pictures were taken from my office window and they were maybe 35-40ft away.

The official name in the Alberta hunting regulations is Grey Partridge. Most prople i know call them Huns, or Hungarian partridge.

They are covey birds like quail. Huns are smaller than a Ruffed grouse. They tend to live in open or mixed farmland, not often found in forested areas.

Good hunting and eating.

Thanks to you and all the others for the ID. I will have to check the regs and maybe pick up a game bird license in case I see them around again.

Any recommendations for shot size/load for these in 12ga?


Mark

 

[jethunter]

I see a few groups of them around the fields here and this is why I ask. I needed to know what they were to check hunting regs and see if they are legal to hunt.


Well, I live in the county on 9.5 acres and my 'yard' is just the area between the house and corrals. I've seen these around the outer edges of our property and along the ditches and patches of bush in the fields, but never this close to the house before. The pictures were taken from my office window and they were maybe 35-40ft away.


Thanks to you and all the others for the ID. I will have to check the regs and maybe pick up a game bird license in case I see them around again.

Any recommendations for shot size/load for these in 12ga?


Mark

12ga target loads will work ok. I like Number 6 lead shot in a grouse load. Number 7.5 shot works but 6 will give a bit more range.

 

[BattleRife]

What really grabs me about these guys is how often I see them right in cities. I have found them occasionally in both Edmonton and Calgary, usually in industrial areas on weekends, or other spaces that are very wide open with very little human traffic around.

 

[jethunter]

What really grabs me about these guys is how often I see them right in cities. I have found them occasionally in both Edmonton and Calgary, usually in industrial areas on weekends, or other spaces that are very wide open with very little human traffic around.

2 years ag we had a covey that moved in for the summer. Startle the crap out of you when you open the front door to go out and 15 missiles launch from the lawn 5 feet away.

 

[guntech]

When you flush them from cover when expecting maybe a peasant, the extremely fast flush and noise always startled me more than any other bird. We had lots of them in the 50's through the 70's east of Calgary. As farming changed and more and more cover lost upland birds suffered.

 

[Potashminer]

Huns used to be very common to raise if you walked along tree lines around a pasture or field. Often seen in grid road ditch as I drive by - I have seen them in Saskatchewan circa 1960's and seeing them now, here in Manitoba - no doubt they have spread out since they were introduced ... Very much associated with fields and pastures and other relatively open areas near to bushes - I do not recall seeing any in heavy bush.

 

[kjohn]

We have lots of Huns in our area. If hunting them, when they flush they sound like a barb wire fence creaking when someone is crossing and pushing down on the wire. It seems that you pretty well have to know they are there or it will scare the crap out of you when they take off. If you watch where they land, they usually run like the wind and will flush where you least expect them. Good eating.

 

[jethunter]

When you flush them from cover when expecting maybe a peasant, the extremely fast flush and noise always startled me more than any other bird. We had lots of them in the 50's through the 70's east of Calgary. As farming changed and more and more cover lost upland birds suffered.

You still shoot peasants? Is it open season or do you need a draw?

 

[guntech]

You still shoot peasants? Is it open season or do you need a draw?

I stopped shooting peasants anywhere in the 70's and posted our land "No Hunting" to help save some... Moved to BC in 79 and sold the farm in the 80's.

 

[Silverado]

Those little hunts are tasty enough, but they’re barely worth shooting because each one gives you about the amount of meat you’d get from a chicken thigh.