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Hay-Day Walks
Discover more about Cumbria's upland hay meadows and the work being done to restore them on the Hay-Day walks.
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Protecting Wildlife For The Future
Help Cumbria Wildlife Trust conserve the wildlife and wild places of Cumbria for the future.
Red Legged Partridge
(Alectoris rufa)
Brighter and more conspicuous than the smaller grey partridge this french import is quite rare in Cumbria with, only 60-80 breeding pairs found mainly along the eastern fringes of the Lake District and the northern Pennines
Habitat – large open fields
Appearance – 32 –34cm. Slightly larger than the grey partridge. Flies with a whirr of wings followed by gliding.
Voice – quite noisy “chuck-chukka-chuff”
Food – seeds, leaves and roots, insects particularly eaten by chicks.
Population changes / conservation – protected by the Game Act but may be shot out of the closed season. Sparse population supplemented over the years by release of captive birds for shooting. It is uncertain whether the population would be self sustaining in Cumbria without additional releases.