Partridges, pheasants, grouse and allies | Phasianidae

Fazantachtigen | Faisanes y perdices

In some ground-nesting species within the family, males gather at a shared display ground where they inflate colour-changing air sacs on the neck, fan their tail feathers and stamp their feet to impress females; in other species a single male instead uses beard-like breast feathers and bare, colour-changing head skin for the same purpose. To digest hard food such as seeds and buds, the birds actively seek out and swallow small stones, which act as a kind of mill inside the muscular gizzard. Outside the breeding season many species live in coveys, tight-knit groups that roost together on the ground at night with heads facing outward so an approaching threat is noticed sooner. Most males take no part in incubation and leave after mating, leaving the female to manage entirely alone.