---
title: "Red-legged Partridge"
description: "Alectoris rufa — Birds. The red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/red-legged-partridge
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Red-legged Partridge

> Alectoris rufa — Birds. The red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds.

- Scientific name: *Alectoris rufa*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Fields & meadows)
- iNaturalist observations: 11165
- Wikidata: [Q754863](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q754863)
- iNaturalist taxon: [867](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/867)

## Names

- en: Red-legged Partridge
- de: Rothuhn
- es: Perdiz roja
- fr: Perdrix rouge
- nl: Rode patrijs
- pt: Perdiz-vermelha
- pl: Góropatwa czerwona

## Countries with the most observations

ES (3685), GB (2198), PT (2037), FR (1119), IT (290), NZ (16), DK (5), CZ (3), HU (3)

## Summary

The red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. It is sometimes known as French partridge, to distinguish it from the English or grey partridge. The genus name is from Ancient Greek alektoris a farmyard chicken, and rufa is Latin for red or rufous.
It is a rotund bird, with a light brown back, grey breast and buff belly. The face is white with a black gorget. It has rufous-streaked flanks and red legs. When disturbed, it prefers to run rather than fly, but if necessary it flies a short distance on rounded wings. This is a seed…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-legged_partridge

## Photo

![Red-legged Partridge](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/red-legged-partridge/medium.jpg)

Photo: Teresa Prandi · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/253861096

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/red-legged-partridge?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).