A Failed Attempt for the Elusive Sichuan Partridge

Asia, Birding, Birding Trips, China, East Asia

A Failed Attempt for the Elusive Sichuan Partridge

Published by

Zongzhuang Liu

on

2024-05-01

Some photos were taken from the hides, as declared in their captions.

I went to the hide of the Sichuan Partridge in Tanshi village with my friends Zhiyu and Junfeng. We arrived at noon on the April 27th and left by noon on the 28th. A few days earlier, the hide owners informed us that the Partridge had not shown up for about two weeks and was presumed to be incubating eggs, but it was too late to cancel the trip. We decided to try our luck.

Butastur indicus (灰脸𫛭鹰, Gray-faced Buzzard), probably on migration to N.

We spent most of the time in the hides. On the afternoon of the 27th, we first visited hide No. 2, where we had the Silver Pheasants, a Temmick’s Tragophan, and Lady Amherst’s Pheasants. We heard Sichuan Partridge calling several times but had no luck seeing any.

The view of the first hide.

Chrysolophus amherstiae (白腹锦鸡, Lady Amherst’s Pheasant) male. This photo was taken from the hide.

Tragopan temminckii (红腹角雉, Temminck’s Tragopan) male with a squirrel. This photo was taken from the hide.

Lophura nycthemera (白鹇, Silver Pheasant) male, subspecies omeiensis. This photo was taken from the hide.

Suthora verreauxi (金色鸦雀, Golden Parrotbill), subspecies verreauxi. Fairly common in the region and sometimes passed the hide.

Lioparus chrysotis (金胸雀鹛, Golden-breasted Fulvetta).

Horornis fortipes (强脚树莺, Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler). It has a nest near the hide. Its typical loud “weeeeeee––––chiwiyou” song was heard all the time there on this trip.

Then we went to another hide where the owner feeds Gray-faced Liocichlas. There are also other babblers in the same hide. Golden Parrotbill and Golden-breasted Fulvetta might also be interesting for birders from other regions.

Liocichla omeiensis (灰胸薮鹛, Gray-faced Liocichla). This superstar is endemic to Sichuan and very limited nearby regions. Only one pair visited the hide. This photo was taken in the hide.

Pterorhinus lanceolatus (矛纹草鹛, Chinese Babax). This photo was taken in the hide. Pterorhinus sannio is also common in this hide.

Leiothrix lutea (红嘴相思鸟, Red-billed Leiothrix) is extremely common inside and outside the hide.

Pomatorhinus ruficollis (棕颈钩嘴鹛, Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler), carrying food for the nestlings. It was busy catching insects and passed the hide many times.

Erythrogenys gravivox (斑胸钩嘴鹛, Black-streaked Scimitar-Babbler) is bathing in the water pit in the hide.

On the 28th, we spent the morning in another two hides, which were said to be better for the Sichuan Partridge. Generally, we had the same collection of birds as on the 27th. We had no luck seeing any Partridge. We got several Phylloscopus tephrocephalus at the road to the hide, about 1500 m in elevation, and saw and heard them very well. Also, one Russet Bush Warbler (Locustella mandelli) was singing nearby, and another L. chengi was singing about 60 m away for a short time.

We noted that many of the typical forests were replaced by bamboo. Our guide told us that, in the past, people logged trees and planted bamboo for bamboo shoots. This region thus lacks typical forest birds in this elevation. Still, it is full of birds that are very happy with a single and secondary growth of bamboo forests, like Lady Amherst’s Pheasant and Sichuan Partridge.

Chrysolophus amherstiae (白腹锦鸡, Lady Amherst’s Pheasant) young male. This photo was taken from the hide.

Phylloscopus tephrocephalus (灰冠鹟莺, Gray-crowned Warbler). Confirmed by its typical song.

Locustella mandelli (高山短翅蝗莺, Russet Bush Warbler) was singing at the elevation of ~1,500 m.

Pterorhinus berthemyi (棕噪鹛，Buffy Laughingthrush). This photo was taken from the hide.

I got two lifers: Buffy Laughingthrush and Russet Bush Warbler. Many Lady Amherst’s Pheasants were calling everywhere and easily to be seen, also come to the hide. The tragopan was very tame to humans and could even come inside the hide. I was slightly disappointed with those birds in hide, though, as they didn’t look wild. Better luck next time for Sichuan Partridge!

Bambusicola thoracicus (灰胸竹鸡, Chinese Bamboo-Partridge) is a common visitor to the hide. Despite it being extremely common in the region, the birds at the hide were unexpectedly shy. These two photos were taken in the hide.

For those who would like to visit the hide for the Partridge, try to avoid late April, May, and early June. These are times when the birds can be busy breeding and may not visit the hide. Another thing to mention is that the weather report there is unreliable. It said the two days we spent there should be heavily rainy, but most of the time, it was cloudy and then sunny.