Alectoris Chukar Bird

English Name:  Chukar
Latin Name:  Alectoris chukar
Protonym:  Perdix Chukar Ill.Ind.Zool.[Hardwicke] 1 pt2 pl.54
Taxonomy:  Galliformes / Phasianidae / Alectoris
Taxonomy Code:  chukar
Type Locality:  India, no exact locality given but Srinagar, Kumaon accepted as type locaUty by Hellmayr, Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Publ., Zool. Ser., 17, 1929, p. 136.
Author:  Gray, JE
Publish Year:  1830
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ALECTORIS
(Phasianidae; Ϯ Barbary Partridge A. barbara) Gr. αλεκτορις alektoris, αλεκτοριδος alektoridos  hen, chicken  < αλεκτωρ alektōr, αλεκτορος alektoros  cockerel; "1. Perdix petrosa.  ...  1. Klipphuhn.  Alectoris *).  (Perdix petrosa).  E[ntwickelung]. Wie gewöhnlich.   Ch[arakter]. Feldhühner mit . . .federigem Schwanz, deren Männchen während der Begattungszeit kleine Höcker an den Tarsen bekommen.   L[ebensart]. Es lebt auf den steinigen Gebirgen des südlichen Europa's, und gleicht in seiner Lebensart sehr dem Steinhuhn.   ...  *) Aλεκτορις, Huhn.  ...  Vierte Ordnung. Gallinaceae.  ...  151. Alectoris (P. petrosa)." (Kaup 1829); "Alectoris Kaup, Skizz. Entw.-Gesch. Eur. Thierw., 1829, p. 180, 193. Type, by monotypy, Perdix petrosa auct. not of Gmelin = Perdix barbara Bonnaterre." (Peters 1934, II, p. 62).
Var. Alectornis.     
Synon. Caccabis, Chacura, Chauvireria, Erythropus, Lambrechtia, Palaeocryptonyx, Pliogallus, Plioperdix, Proalector, Pyctes, Rufipes.

chukar
Hindi onomatopoeia Chukor for the Chukar Partridge (Alectoris).

SUBSPECIES

Chukar (cypriotes)
Latin Name: Alectoris chukar cypriotes
cypriotes / cypriotis
Mod. L. Cypriotes Cypriot < L. Cyprus Cyprus.

Chukar (sinaica)
Latin Name: Alectoris chukar sinaica
sinaica / sinaitica / sinaiticum / sinaiticus
Mt. Sinai, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt.

Chukar (kurdestanica)
Latin Name: Alectoris chukar kurdestanica
kurdestanica
Kurdistan, a region of the Near East occupied by the Kurds, roughly corresponding to south-eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, and north-western Iran.

Chukar (werae)
Latin Name: Alectoris chukar werae
werae
● Vera Alexandrovna Zarudnaya (fl. 1920) wife of Russian zoologist Dr Nikolai Alekseyvich Zarudnyi (subsp. Alectoris chukar).
● Vera Vladimirovna Buturlina (1873-1950) wife of Russian zoologist Dr Sergei Aleksandrovich Buturlin (subsp. Motacilla citreola).

Chukar (koroviakovi)
Latin Name: Alectoris chukar koroviakovi
koroviakovi
B. D. Korovyakof (fl. 1914) Russian botanist, explorer in Baluchistan (subsp. Alectoris chukar).

Chukar (subpallida)
Latin Name: Alectoris chukar subpallida
subpallida / subpallidum / subpallidus
L. suppallidus or subpallidus  somewhat pale, palish  < sub  somewhat; pallidus  pallid, pale  < pallere  to be pale.
● L. sub  near to; specific name Caccabis pallidus Hume, 1873 (= subsp. Alectoris chukar) (subsp. Alectoris chukar).
● L. sub  near to; specific name Micraeca pallida DeVis, 1884 (= subsp. Microeca fascinans) (syn. Microeca fascinans pallida).
● L. sub  near to; specific name Troglodytes pallidus Hume, 1875 (subsp. Troglodytes troglodytes). 
● L. sub  near to; specific name Turdus pallidus J. Gmelin, 1789 (syn. Turdus feae).

Chukar (falki)
Latin Name: Alectoris chukar falki
falki
Prof. Johan Peter Falck (1732-1774) Swedish botanist in the Russian service (subsp. Alectoris chukar).

Chukar (dzungarica)
Latin Name: Alectoris chukar dzungarica
dzungarica / dzungaricus / dzungarius
Dzungaria, a region of Central Asia, the gateway to the steppes, lying mainly in northern Xinjiang, north-western China.

Chukar (pallescens)
Latin Name: Alectoris chukar pallescens
pallescens
L. pallescens, pallescentis  pale-coloured, yellowish  < pallescere  to turn pale  <  pallere  to be pale.

Chukar (pallida)
Latin Name: Alectoris chukar pallida
pallida
L. pallidus  pallid, pale, wan, sallow  < pallere  to be pale.

Chukar (fallax)
Latin Name: Alectoris chukar fallax
fallax
L. fallax, fallacis  false, deceptive, deceiving  < fallere  to deceive. Epithet most frequently given to forms originally falsely identified, allocated to the wrong genus, or of uncertain relationships.
● "Differs from falki Hart. (Russian Turkestan) in being somewhat paler and duller on the upper side, the white eyebrow-stripe narrower; the crown of the head uniform fawn-colour; the chest paler and with narrow black bars on the flanks" (Sushkin 1927); "Hellmayr [1929] regards fallax as indistinguishable from pallida" (J. Peters 1934, II, 65, footnote) (subsp. Alectoris chukar).
● "I have two examples of a second species of this genus from Jamaica, which is, I suppose, undescribed. Before I had an opportunity of examining Mr. Osburn's specimens I was inclined to believe the latter were Mr. Gosse's E. cotta; but I now find that they are quite different, - Elainea fallax, as I propose to call it" (P. Sclater 1861) (Elaenia).
● "Io credei che questa specie potesse essere riferita al genere Euthyrhynchus, Schleg., che invece ho verificato essere identico al mio genere Timeliopsis" (Salvadori 1878) (Glycichaera).
● "The short crest of the males of this form furnishes the only certain character to distinguish it from huarandosae of the Chinchipe Valley. In ascertaining this measurement, the length of the occipital feathers should be taken rather than the distance from the exposed base of the culmen to the tip of the crest, since stretching or contraction of the skin of the head in preparation of the specimen will give a totally false conclusion" (J. Zimmer 1945) (subsp. Islerothraupis cristata).
● "This species bears a very close resemblance to Z. melodia, of which it is the western representative" (Baird 1854) (subsp. Melospiza melodia).
● "It was often killed by mistake, as it had a habit of perching motionless in low, thick brush or on the branch of a tall tree, where its plain colors made it difficult to identify. For this reason I think its name appropriate" (McGregor 1904) (subsp. Pachycephala philippinensis).
● "On the whole this bird has the appearance of a miniature Dicrurus, and may have to be placed in a new genus" (Ramsay 1885); "Ramsay had written on the label "Rhipidura (?) fallax (Ramsay) should be put in a new genus". This indicates the difficulty this species presents in classification using external characters" (Longmore 1991) (subsp. Symposiachrus axillaris).

Chukar (chukar)
Latin Name: Alectoris chukar chukar
chukar
Hindi onomatopoeia Chukor for the Chukar Partridge (Alectoris).

Chukar (pubescens)
Latin Name: Alectoris chukar pubescens
pubescens
L. pubescens, pubescentis  pubescent, downy  < pubescere  to become pubescent  < pubes, puberis  adult.
● ex “Smallest Spotted Wood-pecker” of Catesby 1731: “It so nearly resembles the hairy wood-pecker ... in its mark and colour, that were it not for disparity of size, they might be thought to be the same,” and “Picus varius virginianus minor” of Brisson 1760. Storrs Olson in litt., wryly commented, “I suppose Linnaeus figured that if the big one was hairy, then the little one was downy, hence pubescens. Also, Linnaeus would never have passed up an opportunity to introduce a name with any prurient connections if he possibly could do so” (Dryobates).

Chukar (potanini)
Latin Name: Alectoris chukar potanini
potaninae / potanini
Grigoriy Nikolaevich Potanin (1835-1920) Russian political activist, botanist, ethnologist, explorer in Mongolia, China and Tibet (subsp. Alectoris chukar, syn. Pardaliparus venustulus, subsp. Pyrgilauda davidiana).