Assessment of Chukar and Gray Partridge Populations - Idaho Power

Hells Canyon Chukar and Gray Partridge Report, Ratti and Giudice 14gray partridge has 8 recognized subspecies and 2 color phases, tending to be browner in the westand paler and grayer in the east (Carroll 1993). However, a long history of introductions andgame-farm breeding has obscured subspecific taxonomy in North America and Europe (Carroll1993). Most populations of gray partridge in North America probably belong to P. p. perdix,which has origins in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Austria (Carroll 1993).4.2. Distribution4.2.1. ChukarNative distribution.— Resident in Eurasia from southeastern Europe and Asia Minor eastto southern Manchuria, northern China, Turkestan, and the western Himalayas (AOU 1998).North America.— Distribution center located in the Great Basin, which includesnortheast California, most of Nevada, southeast Oregon, western Utah, and a portion ofsouthwest Idaho. Substantial populations also found in suitable habitat in eastern Utah, westernand central Idaho, northeast Oregon, eastern Washington, and portions of south-centralCalifornia. Spotty populations occur in western Colorado, southwest and north-central Arizona,and central, northwest, and southeast Montana (Christensen 1996). Birds were also introduced tothe Hawaiian Islands, but are no longer on Oahu (AOU 1998).Idaho and Oregon.— Chukars were first introduced into Idaho in 1933 in Nez PerceCounty (Salter 1952). Between 1938 and 1942, 3,000 chukar partridge were successfullyintroduced into 18-20 counties in Idaho (Lever 1987). Twenty-five counties in Idaho now haveviable chukar populations (Lindbloom 2000). The first large-scale introduction of chukars inOregon occurred in 1952 near John Day River in Gilliam County (Masson 1954). Between 1951and 1955, 50,000 chukars were released in Oregon with such success that a hunting season wasestablished in 1956 (Lever 1987). For information on the current distribution of chukar in HellsCanyon, see Section 5: On-site Assessment, below.4.2.2. Gray PartridgeNative distribution.— Resident in Eurasia from the British Isles, southern Scandinavia,and northern Russia south to southern Europe, Turkey, northern Iran, Turkestan, and Mongolia(AOU 1998). Perdix is largely sympatric with Alectoris in the Palearctic, although Perdix rangeis slightly farther north and includes flatter terrain and agricultural landscapes (Watson 1962).North America.— Primary range is the northern plains from northwest Iowa to southernAlberta. Northern limit in aspen parklands and even into boreal forest where cultivated; westernpopulations mostly in agricultural valleys. Small isolated populations in New York, Vermont,Ontario, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia (Carroll 1993).Idaho and Oregon.— Serious efforts to introduce gray partridge in the United Statesbegan in 1900 when 97 birds were released in the Willamette Valley, Oregon (Lever 1987). By1914, gray partridge had been released into 23 counties in Oregon, and by 1934 the birds wereestablished over much of the eastern part of Oregon (Lever 1987). Gray partridge first appearedin Idaho in the early 1900s. The first birds in Idaho probably dispersed from eastern Washingtonafter 1914-16 introductions into Garfield, Spokane, and Whitman counties of Washington