INDIAN GREY HORNBILL

Hornbills are a group of birds whose bill is shaped like a cow's horn, but without a twist, sometimes with a casque on the upper mandible. Frequently, the bill is brightly coloured.

There are 57 species worldwide and 1 species which occurs in Pakistan is Indian Gray Hornbill (Ocyceros birostris) Hornsbill belongs to family Bucerotidae and Order is Coraciiformes.

Indian Grey Hornbill has grey feathers all over the body with a light grey or dull white belly. The flight feathers of the wing are dark brown and whitish tipped.

The horn is black or dark grey with a casque extending up to the point of curvature in the horn.  The upperparts are greyish brown and there is a slight trace of a pale supercilium.

The ear coverts are darker.  The tail has a white tip and a dark sub terminal band. They have a red iris and the eyelids have eyelashes. The casque is short and pointed.

It is a medium-sized hornbill, measuring around 61 cm (24 in) in length.  The male has a larger casque on a dark bill while the culmen and lower mandible are yellowish.

The bare skin around the eye is dark in the male while it is sometimes pale reddish in females. The female has a more yellowish bill with black on the basal half and on the casque. The juveniles lack the casque and the bare skin around the eye is dull orange.

They are found in pairs or small groups.

They are almost completely arboreal and very rarely descend to the ground where they may pick up fallen fruits or dust bathe.

They descend to the ground also to pick up mud pellets for sealing the nest cavity during the nesting period. They indulge in various social activities which include bill-grappling and aerial jousting.

The flight is heavy and involves flapping interspersed with glides. The call is a squealing call.  

The nesting season is April to June and the clutch varies from one to five very symmetrical white eggs.  Males display by fluffing up their feathers and spiral in the air appearing like a green, black, yellow and white ball.

When it is time to lay the first egg, the female hornbill enters the chosen nest-cavity and does not step out into daylight again, for as much as 75 days later. The male carries food to the nest at an average once every hour from dawn to dusk When chicks arrive, the frequency of visits doubles and the volume of food.

Indian Grey Hornbills usually nest in tree hollows on tall trees. The  nest is hollow and spongy from inside and  compressed flat on the outer sides. The female enters the nest hollow and seals the nest hole and leaves only a small vertical slit that the male uses to feed her. 

The cavity is eight to 13 inches deep and about eight inches wide with an opening. The nest entrance is sealed by the female using its excreta and mud-pellets supplied by the male. While inside the nest, the female moults her flight feathers and incubates the eggs. The re-growth of the feathers in the female coincides with the maturity of the chicks at which point the nest is broken open.

Having entered, the female lays a clutch of three to five eggs over the next five to seven days. She uses this pre-incubation period to also wall up the entrance to the nest cavity. The materials she uses for the wall are her own ordure (excreta), mud supplied in small lumps by the male from the outside and chips of wood picked out by the female from the inside of the cavity. The chemistry of the ordure is such that when mixed with the other two ingredients, the paste adheres rapidly like a mass of baked clay. Picking the mixture bit by bit she piles it painstakingly and using the flat sides of her bill as a mason’s trowel, she smoothens the surface and perseveres till the opening is sealed, leaving just one vertical, narrow slit of some two cms width and five cm height. The presence of wood chips in the plaster lends the finished wall the same texture and colour as the bark of the host tree trunk.

As the chicks grow and the space in the cavity gets over-crowded, the female begins to enlarge the slit from top and bottom . The day it is ripe for her to exit, the middle portion is demolished at one go and at long last she emerges in the open, free once again. Now at this stage, the genetic instinct for survival takes over the chicks who with combined efforts, wall up the opening all over again..

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Grebes in Pakistan

Grebes are small to medium-large sized freshwater diving birds. They have lobed toes, and are excellent swimmers and divers. They can run for a short distance, they are prone to falling over, since they have their feet placed far back on the body. Grebes have narrow wings

 A grebe is a member of the Podicipediformes order, a widely distributed order of freshwater diving birds, some of which visit the sea when migrating and in winter. This order contains only a single family, the Podicipedidae, containing 22 species in 6 extant genera.Order: Podicipediformes. Family: Podicipedidae.

 There are 20 species worldwide and 5 species  occur in Pakistan.

1.     Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis
2.     Red-necked Grebe Podiceps grisegena
3.     Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus
4.     Horned Grebe Podiceps auritus
5.     Eared Grebe Podiceps nigricollis

Little Grebe   (Tachybaptus ruficollis)

The Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) is a member of the grebe family of water birds. .It is also known as Dabchick. 

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion. It is commonly found in open bodies of water across most of its range.

The Little Grebe is a small water bird with a pointed bill. It often appears to have a 'fluffy' rear end.

The adult in summer is predominantly dark above with its rich, rufous colour neck, cheeks and flanks, and bright yellow gape. The rufous is replaced by a dirty brownish grey in non-breeding and juvenile birds. In winter, its size, buff plumage, with a darker back and cap, and “powder puff” rear end enable easy identification of this species.

 Juvenile birds have a yellow bill with a small black tip, and black and white streaks on the cheeks and sides of the neck as seen below. This yellow bill darkens as the juveniles age, eventually turning black once in adulthood.

 It readily dives when disturbed, surfacing unseen some distance away. . It can be noisy, with a distinctive whinnying trill.The Little Grebe's breeding call, given singly or in duet, is a trilled repeated weet-weet-weet or wee-wee-wee which sounds like a horse whinnying.

This species is sedentary, locally dispersive or fully migratory depending on the winter temperatures of its breeding

The species breeds in solitary pairs, the timing of breeding varying geographically and depending on the growth of emergent vegetation and water-levels. After breeding the species undergoes a flightless wing-moulting period during which it may assemble in loose groups. During the winter the species is largely solitary or occurs in small groups of 5-30 individuals The species inhabits a wide range of small and shallow wetlands usually less than 1 m deep  with rich vegetation and high densities of aquatic invertebrates, generally avoiding waters with large predatory fish. Suitable habitats include small lakes, ponds, the sheltered bays and vegetated shores  of larger freshwater, alkaline or saline lakes and reservoirs , slow-flowing rivers  and canals.

Its diet consists predominantly of adult and larval insects, especially mayflies, stoneflies, water bugs, beetles, flies, caddisflies and dragon flies, as well as molluscs , adult and juvenile amphibians  and occasionally small fish (up to 11 cm) . 

The nest is a floating platform of aquatic plant matter  submerged branches or bushes close to the edge of shallow wetlands.

Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena)

The Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena) is a migratory aquatic bird. The Red-necked Grebe is a medium-large grebe.  It is a nondescript dusky-grey bird in winter. 

The adult is 40–50 cm (15.7–19.7 in) long with a 77–85 cm (30.3–33.5 in) average wingspan and weighs 692–925 g (25–33 oz). In breeding plumage, it has a black cap that extends below the eye, very pale grey cheeks and throat, a rusty red neck, dark grey back and flanks, and white underparts. The eyes are dark brown and the long, pointed bill is black with a yellow base.

The winter plumage of the Red-necked Grebe is duskier than that of other grebes; its dark grey cap is less defined, and merges into the grey face, and a pale crescent that curves around the rear of the face contrasts with the rest of the head. The front of the neck is whitish or light grey, the hind neck is darker grey, and the yellow of the bill is less obvious than in summer.

The sexes are similar in appearance, although the male averages heavier than the female. Chicks have a striped head and breast, and older juveniles have a striped face, diffuse blackish cap, pale red neck and extensive yellow on the bill.

The Red-necked Grebe flies with its long neck extended and its large feet trailing behind the body, which gives it a stretched-out appearance. The relatively small wings are grey with white secondaries, and beat very rapidly. Its small wing area means that the grebe is unable to take off from land and needs a lengthy run across water to gain the speed needed for take-off. Like all grebes, the Red-necked is an expert swimmer; it uses its feet for propulsion underwater, and steers by rotating its legs, since its tail is too short for this purpose.

 The Red-necked is a good swimmer, a particularly swift diver, and responds to danger by diving rather than flying. The feet are positioned far back on the body, near the tail, which makes the bird ungainly on land. It dives for fish or picks insects off vegetation; it also swallows its own feathers, possibly to protect the digestive system. Red-necked Grebes attempt to evade birds of prey by diving; when feeding, dives average less than 30 seconds, although escape dives are more prolonged.

The Red-necked Grebe ingests large quantities of its own feathers, which remain in the bird's stomach. Feathers are not only swallowed by adults, mainly during self-preening, but are often fed to the young, sometimes within a day of hatching. These feathers soon decompose into a felt-like, amorphous mass. The function of the feathers in the stomach is unknown, although it has been suggested that they help to protect the lower digestive tract from bones and other hard, indigestible material.

This is one of the most vocal grebes during the breeding season, but it is mainly silent for the rest of the year. It has a loud, wailing or howling display call uooooh, given by a single bird or a pair in duet, by night or during the day, and often from cover. Long sequences of up to 60 consecutive notes may be delivered during singing encounters between rival territorial birds. A great variety of quacking, clucking, hissing, rattling and purring calls are also given, with much individual variation.

Red-necked Grebes usually nest as isolated pairs with more than 50 m (160 ft) between neighbouring nests. 

The Red-necked Grebe lays four or five (range one to nine) dull white or pale blue eggs, which average 3.4 cm (1.4 in) in breadth, 51 cm (2.0 in) in length, and weigh about 30.5 g (1.1 oz). Parents take turns to incubate the eggs for 21–33 days until the precocial downy chicks hatch. The young may be fed by the parents for up to 54 days after fledging. The parents do not interfere with the feeding of their chicks when they are still being carried. They immediately climb onto the parent's back, where they spend most of their time until they are 10–17 days old. Chicks are fed by the parents for several weeks.

After breeding the adults moult their wing feathers and are temporarily flightless; migration commences once the flight feathers have regrown 

 

Loons in Pakistan

The loons belong to family Gaviidae and of order Gaviiformes. They are the size of a large duck or small goose. There are 5 species found worldwide and only 2 species are found in Pakistan. Following are the  names of species found in Pakistan  

1.     Black-throated Loon (Gavia arctica)
2.     Great Northern Loon (Gavia immer)

• Black-Throated Loon

Scientific classification

Kingdom:             Animalia

Phylum:              Chordata

Class:               Aves

Order:               Gaviiformes

Family:              Gaviidae

Genus:               Gavia

Species:             G. arctica

Binomial name :       Gavia arctica

Subspecies  :         G. a. arctica

                      G. a. viridigularis

The Black-throated Loon (Gavia arctica) is a migratory aquatic bird. They have a grey head, black throat, white underparts and chequered black-and-white mantle. Non-breeding plumage is drabber with the chin and foreneck white. Its bill is grey or whitish and dagger-shaped. In all plumage a white flank patch distinguishes this species from all other divers including the otherwise almost identical Pacific Diver. Breeding adults are 58 to 77 cm (23 to 30 in) in length with a 100 to 130 cm (39 to 51 in) wingspan, shaped like a smaller, sleeker version of the Great Northern Diver Body mass is reportedly from 2–3.4 kg (4.4–7.5 lb) .

Black-throated Loon is a specialist fish-eater and catching its prey underwater. It feeds on fish, insects, crustaceans and amphibians. It flies with neck outstretched. 

The calls include a yodeling high-pitched wail and harsh growls, similar but lower pitched than Pacific Loon.

• Great Northern Loon

Scientific classification

Kingdom:           Animalia

Phylum:            Chordata

Class:            Aves

Order:            Gaviiformes

Family:           Gaviidae

Genus:            Gavia

Species:            G. immer

Binomial name :     Gavia immer

Synonyms :          Gavia imber

The Great Northern Loon is one of the five loon species that make up the genus Gavia, the only genus of the family Gavidae and order Gaviiformes. 

Adults can range from 61 to 100 cm (24–40 inches) in length with a 122–152 cm (4–5-foot) wingspan.The weight can vary from 1.6 to 8 kg (3.6 to 17.6 lbs). On average a Great Northern Loon is about 81 cm (32 inches) long, has a wingspan of 136 cm (54 inches), and weighs about 4.1 kg (9 lbs). Breeding adults have a black head, white underparts, and a checkered black-and-white mantle. Non-breeding plumage is brownish, with the chin and fore neck white. The bill is black-blue and held horizontally. The bill colour and angle distinguish  from other species. 

The female lays 1 to 3 eggs on a hollowed-out mound of dirt and vegetation very close to water. Both parents build the nest, sit on the egg or eggs, and feed the young.

Great Northern Loon is a specialist fish-eater, catching its prey underwater. Freshwater diets consist of pike, perch, sunfish, trout, and bass; salt-water diets consist of rock fish, flounder, sea trout, and herring. It is small sea-duck which is  black-and-white in color  which swims and dives for fish. They may dive as deep as 200 feet (60m), occasionally staying submerged for several minutes at a time.  

The bird needs a long distance to gain momentum for take-off, and is ungainly on landing. Its clumsiness on land is due to the legs being positioned at the rear of the body: this is ideal for diving but not well-suited for walking. When the birds land on water, they skim along on their bellies to slow down, rather than on their feet, as these are set too far back. 

The loon swims gracefully on the surface, dives as well as any flying bird, and flies competently for hundreds of kilometers in migration. It flies with its neck outstretched, usually calling a particular tremolo that can be used to identify a flying loon. Its flying speed is about 120 km/h (75 mph) during migration. Its call has been alternately called "haunting," "beautiful," "thrilling," "mystical", and "enchanting"

Great Northern Loon nests are usually placed on islands, where ground-based predators cannot normally access them.When approached by a predator of either its nest or itself, divers sometimes attack the predator by rushing at it and attempting to impale it through the abdomen or the back of the head or neck.

Shaheen SHAHEEN FALCON (Military state-bird of the Pakistan Air Force)

Shaheen Falcon is the military state-bird of the Pakistan Air Force. It is also known as the Peregrine Falcon.

Shaheen falcons are bird hunters and are one of the fastest and most aerial predators, using an array of tactics for searching out, attacking, capturing and killing their prey. In its hunting dive, the stoop, which involves soaring to a great height and then diving steeply at speeds commonly said to be over 320 km/h (200 mph), and hitting one wing of its prey so as not to harm itself on impact. The air pressure from a 200 mph (320 km/h) dive could possibly damage a bird's lungs, but small bony tubercles on a falcon's nostrils guide the powerful airflow away from the nostrils, enabling the bird to breathe more easily while diving by reducing the change in air pressure.To protect their eyes, the falcons use their nictitating membranes (third eyelids) to spread tears and clear debris from their eyes while maintaining vision. The Peregrine is renowned for its speed during its characteristic hunting stoop, making it the fastest member of the animal kingdom.

 

The Shaheen is a small and powerful-looking falcon raptor with a black crown and nape and a black wedge extending below the eye forming a distinctive “helmet”. It has blackish upper parts, rufous underparts with fine, dark streaks, and white on the throat. The complete black face mask is sharply demarcated from the white throat. It has distinctive rufous underwing-coverts . The throat is white and the under parts are white to buff, with blackish brown bars on the sides, thighs, abdomen, under wings, and lower breast area . The cere and eye-rings are bluish and the leg coloration varies from green to yellow. The beak is sharply hooked with a conspicuous notch located on the cutting edge. 

The male is about the size of a House Crow and the female is larger than male. The male (called the "tiercel") and the female (simply called the "falcon"). The birds range in length from 380 to 440 mm.

 The Shaheen Falcon has a body length of 34 to 58 centimetres (13–23 in) and a wingspan from 74 to 120 centimetres (29–47 in). Males weigh 424 to 750 grams (0.93–1.7 lb) and the noticeably larger females weigh 910 to 1,500 grams (2.0–3.3 lb) The standard linear measurements of Peregrines are: the wing chord measures 26.5–39 cm (10.4–15 in), the tail measures 13–19 cm (5.1–7.5 in) and the tarsus measures 4.5 to 5.6 cm (1.8 to 2.2 in).

 The Shaheen Falcon requires open space in order to hunt.The Shaheen Falcon hunts at dawn and dusk, when prey is most activeOnce prey is spotted, it begins its stoop, folding back the tail and wings, with feet tucked the Peregrine Falcon strikes its prey with a clenched foot, stunning or killing it then turns to catch it in mid-air Prey is struck and captured in mid-air. If its prey is too heavy to carry, a Peregrine will drop it to the ground and eat it there

Shaheen Falcon are very  Strong and fast falcon, they dive from great heights to strike prey with their talons. If the impact does not kill the prey, the falcon bites the neck of its victim to ensure death.  It is adapted to taking prey in the air. Shaheen Falcon mostly hunt small birds, though medium-sized birds. They occasionally hunt small mammals, small reptiles, or even insects.

 

The Shaheen Falcon are usually seen as a solitary bird or they are in pairs on cliffs and rock pinnacles. Because of the size difference between a male and a female, a mated pair generally hunt different prey species. Shaheen falcons are monogamous and they typically mate for life. 

The reproductive season is from December to April. The birds occupy nests on high cliff ledges or in cavities and tunnels.They lay clutches of 3-4 eggs. The chicks fledge within 48 days with an average nesting success of 1.32 chicks per nest .After hatching, the chicks (called "eyases" are covered with creamy-white down and have disproportionately large feet. 

The hunting territory of the parents can extend a radius of 19 to 24 km (12–15 miles) from the nest site Chicks fledge 42 to 46 days after hatching, and remain dependent on their parents for up to two months. Both parents leave the nest to gather prey to feed the young.

The Shaheen Falcon nests in a on islands and rocky cliffs, scrape, normally on cliff edges. The female chooses a nest site, where she scrapes a shallow hollow in the loose soil, sand, gravel, or dead vegetation in which to lay eggs. No nest materials are added. Cliff nests are generally located under an overhang, on ledges with vegetation, and south-facing sites are favored.

The Shaheen Falcon is found in South Asia from Pakistan and Kashmir region over across to the Republic of India and Bangladesh in the east and to Sri Lanka and south-eastern China. In the Republic of India,
 

CHUKAR BIRD (National Bird of Pakistan)

The Chukar is the National bird of Pakistan. Chukar (Alectoris chukar) is a Eurasian upland game bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. The Chukar  partridge is a small chicken-like bird and it is very easy to keep and breed in captivity.

The most distinguishing features of Chukar are the vivid black and white stripes that decorate the wings and the black band that runs across the eyes, resembling a blindfold, down neck and onto chest. The face is white with a black gorge, and the beak is short, strong, and orange in colour.Throat white. Bill and legs red. Short, rounded wings.The upper body and head feathers of the chukar are brown, becoming more bluish-grey towards the lower body and tail. It has short neck and tail and Grayish brown back and chest. Buffy belly. Bold black and chestnut barring on flanks. The tail has 14 feathers, the third primary is the longest while the first is level with the fifth and sixth primaries. Chukars inhabiting more humid areas tend to be darker and more olive in colour, while those in more arid areas are a paler grey or yellow.

The Chukar is a rotund 32–35 cm (13–14 in) long partridge, with a light brown back, grey breast, and buff belly. Sexes are similar, the female slightly smaller in size and lacking the spur. Chukar chicks have cream and brown down with pale undersides.

The Chukor is a very noisy bird and  repeated constantly in a sharp, clear tone. This tone can be heard for a mile or more through the pure mountain air. The call is frequent during the day especially in the mornings and evenings.The  calls of the Chukar  are numerous and variable.

The commonest call of Chukar is a "Rallying call" which it is when disturbed. It prefers to run rather than fly, but if necessary it flies a short distance often down a slope on rounded wings, calling immediately after alighting. At low intensities the call is chuck, chuck, chuck,given slowly and with definite breaks between each call.As the intensity of the calling rises, it changes to  perchuck, per-chuck with accent on the second syllable, andit is given at faster tempo. This in turn gives way to chukar-chukar-chukar with accent on the first syllable.Chukars seem to prefer to use this call from the vantage point of a rock where they have a good view of the surroundings. The throaty chucking is very resonant and indicated that the rally call was audible for 300 yards or over under favorable conditions. The rally call is heard primarily during the early morning and evening hours, although it is used infrequently throughout the day. Both sexes use this call, but  during the nesting season it appears to be used more bmales. during the breeding season the primary function of the rally call is to space males rather than to attract a mate and thacalling at dawn and dusk serves as a deterrent to regulate overall population density. During the summer, fall and winter when the birds travel in coveys, and when covey is broken up, the rally call is a primary method used for locating one another.The rally  call is an indicator of strongest dominance and aggression.


The Ground alarm call is when the birds separate in long, curving downhill flights. As they burst from the ground the first call is aloud piercing squeal, followed by a series of  whitoo whitoo calls gradually subsiding as the birds disappear out of range.This calls is most commonly heard in the field.

Hawk-alarm  note is when  a  large  bird  flying  overhead generally  elicits  a short, guttural  kerrrr.  It  is evenly  pitched and  given  with  little  mouth  movement,  but it  is audible  for perhaps 100 feet. If  the disturbance is not too close, the bird will  crouch on  the spot and  turn  its head sideways to get the best possible view.  The  call  may  be repeated several times by  the first  bird  to  see the disturbance  and  also by  other birds in  the pen  even though they  cannot  see the  danger. More  sudden or  closer sources of danger sometimes send the entire  flock of  Chukars  flying  or running  hastily  to cover: When  first placed in  new surroundings, the birds were alarmed at many  disturbances. Later  the birds might  give a single errrrk  with  scarcely a  break  in  their  activity.

On-guard call is a low-pitched, undulating  kwerr given when a hawk continues soaring overhead. The  birds give it while frozen and looking up at the hawk either from  cover or  out  in  the  open. It  may  be  given  intermittently  for  several minutes  or until  the hawk has disappeared.

Steam-engine call is when a male in breeding season may give a harsh chak-chak-chak call, sometimes lasting for five minutes on end; at other times, just a few isolated calls may be given.”The  steam-engine call  comes with  high intensity  conflict between  aggression and  escape where the  calling  bird  is somewhat subordinate  to the rival.

AU’s  well’ call is when a loafing  or  feeding  bird  will  at  times  give  a  soft  plaintive coo-OOY, rising  in  pitch  on the second syllable.  Birds give this call when there is no apparent strife  or tension from  outside sources. The  call  frequently  signifies the end of a period of alarm  from the air. This is the call  of  a paired  male given  while  standing  at  ease. It  only  from  males in  the breeding season.

Waltzing  call is in  between waltzing  bouts while  the male  is standing  laterally  to the male  or female  in  tense, erect position, he will  often  give a  call  of  several seconds duration much like  the aerial alarm call. It  is ermk,  the latter  being shorter in  length. The  waltzing  call is given by  a bird  that  is somewhat dominant,  especially over a female due to the conflict probably  between aggression, escape, and sexual tendencies.

Submissive squeal is when a bird  being chased or suddenly attacked may  give a rasping squeal lasting one or two seconds with  bill  held wide open. Chukar squeals when are it chased by another  aggressive  Chukar
during  his attempts to copulate.  Submissive cocks also squealed when being dominated by  a cock. If  a bird was actually  grabbed by the nape, it  was likely  to continue  squealing until  it  had broken  loose from the attacking bird. The  merest move in  the direction of the subordinate bird  was often  enough to elicit  a squeal. This  sort of squeal was most common during  the breeding season, a time when aggressiveness between birds was at  a peak. Dominant birds continued  their  attacks during  and  after  squeals without  letup. The squeal is given by distinctly subordinate birds with strong escape tendencies.

Food call is when“Single birds feeding at the hopper or scratching in the litter frequently gave a slow took. This is sharp and emphatic with a clear pause between each note.

Another  group of calls occurs only  in  the breeding season and  seems to function  in bringing  the pair  together for copulation  and orientation  to the nest. I  have designated these as sexual calls.

Tidbitting  call is during  the  tidbitting  display the male utters a rapid tu-tu-tu-twta,  which becomes more rapid  and higher pitched as tidbitting  continues. A  single round of calling  may  last over a minute.  This  call is varied in  pitch  and  is longer and louder. This may  be merely  a difference of intensity.

Pitoo call is which the  male gives in  the presence of the female as a single call  or re- peated every few seconds. At  such times he is relaxed and moving  about  freely,  never in  display. But  typically  the call precedes a bout of tidbitting  or may  be injected among the tidbitting  calls.


Nest-ceremony call is given when Chukar is exploring for nest sites or turning  in  a nest scrape. This call is a soft continuous  rising and falling  erratically in  pitch.  It  is very  similar  to the food call.

Copdation-intention  call is given when a male intends to copulate with  a female . During  this stage male invariably  announces his intention  to copulate with  a  deep-throated rattle,  uh-uh-uh-uh.  when  dominant males were strongly motivated  sexually and give this copulation-intention  call before running up  behind submissive cocks and  grabbing  them.

The  calls given during  Agonistic behavior are thus good indicators of the motivation of the calling birds. During  fall  and  winter  Chukar  Partridges  tolerate  each other and  spend much of their  time  in coveys. Birds roost and  loaf  in  tight  groups, and  even while  feeding they remain  close together. However, with  advent of  spring, intolerance  is. Birds roost and  loaf  in  tight  groups, and  even while  feeding they remain  close together. However,  with  advent  of  spring, intolerance  increases and males may  become strongly aggressive toward others. Aggressiveness in  birds is known  to in- with  increased testosterone output  in spring.The range in behavior  from  attack  at  one extreme and  escape at  the other is known  as agonist.

The  most common display  is the head tilt.  In  this the male tilts  his head away  from the bird  being intimidated.  At  the same time  the aggressive bird  turns sideways to expose his barred flank  feathers to the utmost. These flank  feathers may be brought well  up  over the tightly  folded wings. The  feathers of neck and chin are fluffed out to such an extent that  the neck appears to be half  again as large as that of  a  female  or subdued male.  During  a  head tilt  the male  also stands erect and  stiff. This  low-intensity  display  is almost  a necessary precursor to more intense  displays. A male  may  make  this  threat  toward  a  strange male  on first encounter or toward  other males as a means of forcing a subordinate male away from courting  a female. Once the dominance of a male has been established, the head tilt  proves an  effective deterrent to subordinate males. The dominant  male among my  captive birds, about 30 feet away at the far end of the pen, had only  to cock his head to make the outsider withdraw, even though there was a tight  fence between them. The  head tilt  is the least aggressive of threat  displays and the first  to appear in  the spring.

A more intense form  of  display  occurs when the  aggressive male makes a  half  circle  about  another  bird,  at the same time  holding  his head tilted  toward  the outside of the circle. Circling  is performed by the bird destined to become the dominant one in  a paired encounter. The  dominant  bird  circles if the initial  head dlts fail  o make the second bird  submissive. Where  birds are fairly  evenly matched, mutual  circling may last for  five minutes  before the second bird  escapes or crouches submissively. At  lower intensity,  circling  may  be a slow walk  or a mere step or two.  Circling  is also frequent when a second male is courting  a female. The  aggressive
male uses this display to force the  subordinate  courting  male  away  from  the  hen.  Should the  second male persist in remaining  beside the hen, the aggressive male will  make a series of very rapid half circles between the two  birds.  Like  a well-trained  cow pony,  the  aggressor will  keep cutting the second male  off from  the hen no matter  how fast the other male may  be. When  two males of equal dominance first meet in  early  spring, there will  be mutual head tilting  as the two birds stand several feet apart  in  stiff stance. Later they may run slowly side by  side. An  aggressive bird  will  never  stand  head on  to  another  bird  but always so that  his flank feathers show. There  may  be periods in  which no antagonism is demonstrated between nearly  equal males. But after  half  an hour  the dominance of one is established. Later in the season, as birds become more aggressive, an  encounter seldom lasts more than two minutes before dominance is established.

If  a male  sights another male  intruding on his territory,  he will challenge the intruder  by  running  straight toward him  in  a special manner  found only in  this situation.  In  running,  the back and  tail  are horizontal  and the head straight  in front  but  somewhat lower than the back . On  stopping, the bird  stands up stiffly and gives a head tilt,  turning  sideways as he does SO. After  a few seconds he will  resume his run toward the intruder.  He may make half  a dozen such short spurts before coming close enough to  the  intruder  to  begin more intense displays. On returning  to his mate the male may run  in  the same way.

Chukars have been found roosting on the ground beneath sagebrush, under juniper trees, in the shelter of rock outcrops and in open rocky areas. They do not seek dense cover for roosting.

Dusting plays an important part in the daily life of the chukar. Dusting bowls are frequently seen alongside trails, in the shelter of shrubs and juniper trees, near thebase of rocky outcrops, and particularly around watering sites where the birds seem to enjoy the damp soil. They are oblong-oval depressions in the earth and droppingsand a few feathers are usually found in and around them.

Peeping is done by young birds from the first week until they are nearly adult in size. When a brood of chicks is scattered peeping leads to their reunion. Young chicks will usually freeze for 10 to 15 minutes after being scattered and then peeping will begin. It often takes 30 minutes to an hour or more for a brood to reassemble. The reunion of the brood is directed by the adult bird who emits occasional calls that serve to guide the chicks. The chicks will run or make short flights toward the adult after the call. Peeping is almost continuous until the brood is reunited. If the brood is disturbed while in the process of reuniting, the chicks will again freeze, and the adult bird will give the alarm call if the intruder approaches closely.

The breeding season is summer. In summer, Chukars form pairs to breed. During this time, the cocks are very pugnacious calling and fighting. Males perform tidbitting displays, a form of courtship feeding where the male pecks at food and a female may visit to peck in response. The males may chase females with head lowered, wing lowered and neck fluffed. The male may also performs a high step stiff walk while making a special call.  Once a pair bond forms, a nesting territory is developed in which the male can be fairly aggressive at defending. Males are monogynous.

Once egg laying and incubation is initiated chukar are persistent re-nesters and nesting can occur through July if conditions are favorable. Chukar will re-nest after the initial nest is destroyed or if the brood is lost entirely at an early date; . As the nesting season progresses, the female faces some physiological challenges in producing a large brood when re-nesting because ovary regression is occurring. If the female is able to raise a brood of even one chick, it is felt that re-nesting does not take place.The nest is a scantily lined ground scrape, though occasionally a compact pad is created with a depression in the center. Generally, the nests are sheltered by ferns and small bushes, or placed in a dip or rocky hillside under a overhanging rock

Chukar eggs are uniformaily white yellowish in color with numereous speckles of  brown with varrying sizes andshapes.appearing over most of the the shell. Egg weigh over 16 to 25g and are oblaong in shape and are an averagae of 42 mm long and 32mm wide.Egg shell thickness is about 0.228mm and cell membrance about 0.047 mm. About 7 to 14 eggs are laid. The eggs hatch in about 23–25 days. Chicks grow  quickly and be place outside at about 6 weeks. Chicks join their parents in foraging and will soon join the chicks of other members of the covey.

During the early fall months of September and October, chukar primarily consume the seeds. Chukar will take a wide variety of seeds and some insects as food. It also ingests grit. During winter they descend into the valleys and feed in fields.

Tallus slopes, rocky outcrops, scattered brush and clumps of grass over irregular terrain give the chukar sufficient opportunity to hide without difficulty.Chukars prefer an open, unimpeded view and often they are seen perched upon a prominent rock overlooking their domain. When disturbed their first reaction is to run uphill, which has proven to be a sound method of losing many an ardent hunter, and if the pursuer persists they will flush and then lie,utilizing the available cover to perfection.

This partridge has its native range in Asia, from Israel and Turkey through Afghanistan to India, along the inner ranges of the Western Himalayas to Nepal. habitat in the native range is rocky open hillsides with grass or scattered scrub or cultivation. It is mainly found at an altitude of 2000 to 4000 m except in Pakistan, where it occurs at 600m. They are not found in areas of high humidity or rainfall.

Chukar are sometimes preyed on by Golden Eagles.Chukar as good sport although they were not considered to be particularly good in flavour.  In the non-breeding season, Chukar Partridge are found in small coveys of 10 or more up to 50 birds.