Stone Partridge - Keklik
Keklik (Rock Partridge) Family Phasianidae.
In external appearance and body structure, the keklik closely resembles the common gray partridge but is significantly larger. Its plumage is more vibrant. The overall tone is smoky gray with a bluish-pink hue. A black stripe runs from the forehead through the eyes and around the front of the neck. The beak, the eye-ring, and the legs are bright red.
They are characterized by a compact body, short neck, large head with a short curved beak, medium-height legs with blunt spurs, as well as medium-length wings and a very long tail.
The body length is 35 cm, weight ranges from 350 to 800 g, and wingspan is 47-52 cm.
Males, like those of the rock partridge, have well-developed spurs. The female differs from the male in the absence of spurs and smaller size.
This is a typical mountain game bird. They inhabit rocky mountain slopes, the sides of gorges, preferring places with scree and nearby areas covered with dense grass and shrubs. They do not settle in forested areas but prefer slopes covered with various shrubs, often northern slopes of mountains. Kekliks are sedentary birds. They do not stray far from their nesting sites.
In early spring, kekliks form pairs, and fights often occur among males. Both the male and female participate in nest building. The female lays up to 16 clay-white eggs with brown speckles.
Incubation lasts about three weeks. The chicks, barely dry, begin to run after their parents, searching for insects, slugs, and larvae. Young kekliks catch up in size with adults by three months of age, but their plumage is still not as bright, being a brownish-gray tone. Closer to autumn, broods gather in flocks and stay together throughout the fall and winter. During the winter, especially in snowy winters, flocks of kekliks descend from the mountains to the valleys.
The daily activity of kekliks is as follows. They roost in rock crevices, emerge at dawn to feed, quickly moving up or across the slope. Then the birds visit water sources and rest in the shade of bushes or rocks around noon. At about 5 PM, they again fly or run to water and feed until sunset. They readily bathe in road dust. In summer, kekliks feed on both plant and animal foods. They particularly enjoy digging up underground bulbs of mountain grasses, as well as eating seeds, tubers, and berries. Young keklik chicks primarily feed on animal food such as beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, ants, and spiders until August. In autumn and winter, plant food predominates, and the birds feed all day. Winter is the most challenging period in the life of kekliks.
Fallen snow makes it difficult to obtain underground parts of plants—bulbs and tubers. Kekliks suffer from hunger, become emaciated, and many perish. They begin to migrate widely through the gorge in search of snow-free areas rich in food. However, due to their high fertility, the keklik population recovers within 2-3 years.
There are 26 subspecies.
They are often kept in captivity, especially popular among bird fighting enthusiasts. They adapt well to captivity. Kekliks can live up to 20 years in domestic conditions with good care.
Red Book
