Alectoris

Chukar partridge Alectoris chukar, photographed by Bob Steele.

Belongs within: Phasianidae.

Alectoris is a genus of partridges found in southern temperate Eurasia and northern Africa. Members of the genus are mostly grey or brown, but with bright red beaks and legs and prominently marked faces and flanks. The barbary partridge A. barbara of northern Africa has a grey face and reddish-brown gorget. Various species of Alectoris have been introduced outside their native range as gamebirds, such as the chukar partridge A. chukar in New Zealand and the rock partridge A. graeca in the United States.

<==Alectoris Kaup 1829 CC10 (see below for synonymy)
    |  i. s.: A. bavarica Ballmann 1969 M02
    |         A. donnezani (Depéret 1892) (see below for synonymy) M02
    |         A. edwardsi (Depéret 1887) (see below for synonymy) M02
    |         ‘Palaeocryptonyx’ hungaricus Jánossy 1991 M02
    |         A. pliocaena Tugarinov 1940 M02
    |         A. prisca (Milne-Edwards 1869) (see below for synonymy) M02
    |--A. barbara (Bonnaterre 1792) JT12, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
    |    |--A. b. barbara L81
    |    `--A. b. koenigi L81
    `--+--A. melanocephala JT12 [=A. graeca melanocephala RN72]
       `--+--A. rufa (Linnaeus 1758) BKB15, CC10 [=Tetrao rufus CC10, Caccabis rufa CC10]
          |    |--A. r. rufa L81
          |    |--A. r. australis L81
          |    `--A. r. hispanica L81
          `--+--A. chukar (Gray in Hardwicke 1830) BKB15, CC10 [=Perdix chukar CC10, Caccabis chukar D56]
             |    |--A. c. chukar [=A. graeca chukar] CC10
             |    `--A. c. koroviakovi Zarudny 1914 CC10 [=A. graeca koroviakovi L81]
             `--+--A. graeca (Meisner 1804) BKB15, M02 (see below for synonymy)
                |    |--A. g. graeca L81
                |    |--A. g. cypriotes L81
                |    |--A. g. pubescens RN72
                |    `--A. g. saxatilis L81
                `--+--A. magna JT12
                   `--A. philbyi JT12

Alectoris Kaup 1829 CC10 [incl. Caccabis Kaup 1829 B94, Chauvireria Boev 1997 M02, Lambrechtia Jánossy 1974 (n. n.) M02, Palaeocryptonyx Depéret 1892 M02, Pliogallus Tugarinov 1940 non Gaillard 1939 M02, Plioperdix Kretzoi 1955 M02, Proalector Brodkorb 1964 M02; Alectoridini, Caccabidini]

Alectoris barbara (Bonnaterre 1792) JT12, CC10 [=Perdix barbara CC10, incl. P. petrosa Kaup 1829 non Tetrao petrosus Gmelin 1788 CC10, *Alectoris petrosa CC10, Caccabis petrosa CC10]

Alectoris donnezani (Depéret 1892) [=*Palaeocryptonyx donnezani; incl. *Chauvireria balcanica Boev 1997, Alectoris baryosefi Tchernov 1980, Francolinus capeki Lambrecht 1933, F. (Lambrechtia) capeki, Plioperdix capeki, *Pliogallus coturnoides Tugarinov 1940, *Plioperdix coturnoides, Francolinus (Lambrechtia) minor Jánossy 1974, Ammoperdix ponticus Tugarinov 1940, Plioperdix ponticus, F. subfrancolinus Jánossy 1976, Plioperdix subfrancolinus, F. capeki villanyiensis Jánossy 1974, F. capeki wenzensis Jánossy 1974, F. wezensis (l. c.)] M02

Alectoris edwardsi (Depéret 1887) [=Palaeortyx edwardsi, Palaeocryptonyx edwardsi, Palaeoperdix edwardsi; incl. Palaeortyx miocaena Gaillard 1939, *Proalector miocaenus] M02

Alectoris graeca (Meisner 1804) JT12, M02 [=Perdix graeca M02; incl. Gallus karabachensis Burčak-Abramovič & Aliev 1989 M02, A. graeca martelensis Mourer-Chauviré 1975 M02, A. graeca mediterranea Mourer-Chauviré 1975 M02]

Alectoris prisca (Milne-Edwards 1869) [=Palaeoperdix prisca; incl. Palaeocryptonyx grivensis Ennouchi 1930, Palaeoperdix sansaniensis Milne-Edwards 1869] M02

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.

[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.

[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4^th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.

[D56] Dawes, B. 1956. The Trematoda with special reference to British and other European forms. University Press: Cambridge.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.

[L81] Long, J. L. 1981. Introduced Birds of the World: The worldwide history, distribution and influence of birds introduced to new environments. Reed: Sydney.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[RN72] Rutgers, A., & K. A. Norris (eds.) 1972. Encyclopaedia of Aviculture vol. 1. Blandford Press: London.

Last updated: 16 June 2019.