The Chukar Partridge in Nevada

Abstract

The chukar partridge, Alectoris graeca chukar (J. E. Gray), a Himalayan subspecies of the red-legged rock partridge occuring over much of southern Eurasia, has been introduced, chiefly in the last two decades, in many parts of the United States. What sucess in establishment it has had, has been chiefly in certain western states (Aldrich, 1947); probably it has been most successful in Nevada. Regular hunting seasons for the species were first possible in Nevada, although they have since (in the autumn of 1949) been opened in the state of Washington. The chukar partridge has, in a relatively short time, built up to rather large populations in some areas of Nevada even though comparatively small numbers of birds were liberated initially. It seems worthwhile, therefore, to record what has been learned concerning the chukar partridge in Nevada, both because continued effort is being made to establish or increase this partridge in this and other states and, more especially, because the population of this partridge has increased to such numbers that a shootable surplus has been produced. It is of considerable moment that another exotic game bird is succeeding in North America as have the Hungarian partridge and the ring-necked pheasant. Most of the reports on the chukar partridge in different states (Bade in California, 1937; Nagel in Missouri, 1939; et. al.) deal mainly with the introduction or artificial breeding of chukars and provide little information on the establishment and consequent activities of the bird in the wild state. Moreland's paper (1950) on the establishment of chukar partridge in Washington, and Nagel's (1945) paper are notable exceptions. The present report is concerned with the establishment of the partridge in Nevada and with understanding its success there. Methods of liberation, activities immediately subsequent to liberation, and establishment under conditions of partial domestication have been studied in Nevada as they were in California (Richardson, 1941) but, except for the last subject, will not be discussed here.