A few weeks ago, an unusual question popped up on Reddit:
“Did someone lose a Partridge in Wash Park?”
Attached was a photo, sure enough, of a very round little bird with black-striped feathers, a bold black band across its ping-pong ball head, and a curved orange beak.
A few Redditors correctly identified the bird as a chukar partridge. Lots of people cracked “pear tree” jokes. We decided to investigate.
The bird is not native to Colorado, but they do live here.
The Denver Public Library’s Conservation Collection has tons of material about the chukar, most from the early 20th century, shortly after the bird was brought to North America.
According to Glen C. Christensen’s “The Chukar Partridge,” the species is found widely across the Atlantic Ocean, from Spain all the way to China. One undated manuscript said the birds were probably brought from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan to the American West in the 1930s.
The reason: to hunt them.
Here’s a passage from a 1964 federal report:
“In most parts of the United States where hunting has been poor, there has developed a feeling that perhaps an exotic species might better supply the public need. Next to the pheasant, which has become naturalized and has done exceptionally well in some agricultural areas, the Hungarian and chukar partridges have become the most popular of the nonnative species, at least among sportsmen.”
The birds thrived in Colorado. About 4,400 were estimated to live here in 1956. By 1963, that number had grown to 7,000.
But nearly all of those chukar communities are on the Western Slope, in the rocky, mountainous habitat that they love.
Ed Gorman, Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s small game manager, said the Reddit specimen probably escaped from someone’s yard.
“We don't know of a single self-propagating population of chukars near Wash Park,” he said. “The primary population is in the Book Cliffs over by Grand Junction.”
It’s unlikely that the partridge in the park survived very long, Gorman added, since the city is filled with dangers like foxes and automobiles. A wild bird might have made it; Gorman said an animal bred in captivity probably wouldn’t.
Interlude: Stuff we learned about chukars at the library
- The plural of chukar is chukars.
- They are monogamous.
- They have a hard time keeping track of their kids, who often get mixed into other families in busy places like watering holes. This contributes to a regular “loss of brood integrity.”
- Their name is derived from the sound of their “rally cry,” which Christensen wrote has varying levels of intensity: From a slow “chuck, chuck, chuck” to a rising “per-chuck, per-chuck” to an intense “chuckara-chuckara-chickara.”
- They mourn their dead, according to an 1880 study by Hume and Marshall: “When he is informed of the untimely decease of his pet brother and favorite sister, or perhaps his eldest son and heir, he responds ‘oh lor! oh lor!’ in quite a mournful tone.” (Ed. note: This one sounds a little sus…)
- Their ability to move long distances has helped them thrive here.
- To protect their chicks, chukar parents are known to “feign injury” to distract any threats.
Incredibly, Gorman had some recent chukar news to share.
“I never thought I would say that in my career, that there was breaking chukar news,” he said. “But yes, it appears so.”
While well-established populations were transplanted here a century ago, Colorado Parks and Wildlife continued to work with the species (still to benefit hunters) into the modern era.
Gorman was involved in a 2014 effort to introduce chukars from Utah into Larimer County’s Poudre Canyon.
“For close to a decade we thought it was a failure,” he said. It appeared the flocks in the canyon had died out.
But a few months ago, he said, wildlife researchers spotted chukar in the canyon. The birds don’t live very long, so this was evidence of propagation.
“It actually looks like it was a success,” he said.
Chukars taste pretty good, and it’s pronounced ‘chucker,’ Gorman added.
“Yeah, they're good to eat,” he said. “I would prefer something like a bobwhite quail or a scaled quail, but chukars, there's nothing wrong with them on the table.”
Reddit commenters shared more glowing reviews, with one person calling them “tasty AF.”
The trouble, Gorman said, is they’re notoriously hard to hunt. He doesn’t mess with them.
“They tend to live in mountainous terrain, really rough country up and down. The chukars kind of have the habit of running uphill to avoid predators. And then, just about the time you think you're going to get close enough to shoot one, they fly off the mountain and down to the next valley and you start to chase all over again,” he said, “so it's extremely difficult hunting.”
While the bird was brought here to be killed, there aren’t too many people who still hunt them. He said those who do are especially dedicated.
The transnational transplantation that brought chukar here is no longer in fashion, Gorman added. Even in 1956, there were signs that importing fowl was falling out of vogue.
“Too many persons have made the common error of believing that distant pastures are greener than those at home — that foreign birds are better than native species,” the U.S. Interior report read. “We believe that, as a general rule, returns will be more satisfactory if sportsmen and conservation agencies give more consideration to the improvement of the environment of native game.”
Want some more odd natural history?
- In just 20 years, the American elm all but disappeared from Denver
- Denver ugly fish competition aims to save species in the South Platte
- Denver’s Hot Duck is a Weird Goose
