Tibetan Partridge

The Tibetan partridge is a 28–31 cm gamebird that differs somewhat from other Perdix partridges: it has the brown back, blackish belly patch and chestnut flanks of its relatives but a striking black and white face pattern that contrasts with a rufous collar. The forehead, broad supercilium, face and throat are white, with a broad black stripe down the face from below the eyes and a broad chestnut hind-neck collar. The upperparts are buff barred with rufous and black. Neither sex has spurs (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is found widely across the Tibetan Plateau and shows some variation in plumage between populations. It forages on the ground in sparsely vegetated high-altitude country, in pairs in summer and in larger groups outside the breeding season. It is non-migratory but moves to lower desert plains in winter and may go up to the snow line in summer. It eats seeds, though young birds need insects as an essential source of protein. The cached account gives no detail specific to India; SoIB 2023 lists it as a resident of alpine and cold desert but assigns no priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).