I have
recently done a couple of trips to the Asir mountains and seen plenty of
Arabian Partridges including good numbers on the Raydah Escarpment. The Arabian
Partridge is an endemic to Arabia and occurs mainly in the Asir Mountains. The
subspecies occurring in Saudi Arabia is A. m. melanocephala from Madinah
in northern Hejaz south to the Yemen boarder. They also occur in Yemen and western Oman east to Dhofar. Differs from
other Alectoris including Philby’s Partridge by larger size (including longer
tail and deeper belly), grey tail feathers (visible in flight), much broader
white supercilium and black crown. They occur in stony and somewhat better-vegetated
ground in hills, mountains and upland plains, from near sea level to 3000 m,
including montane juniper forest where they are locally common. They feed
mainly on vegetable matter, seeds and invertebrates where they forage and drink
in the morning and evening in small groups.
