Mountain Bamboo Partridge

The mountain bamboo partridge is a stocky brown, cream and grey gamebird with bold black-and-white stripes through and above the eye. Its pale breast and belly carry scattered brown spots, and the short rounded wings suit brief escape flights rather than sustained travel. Adults are roughly 30–35 cm long. Pairs and family groups stay under shrub cover for much of the day and emerge most readily during early morning and evening (Wikipedia, general species account).

It lives near water in bamboo scrub, tall grassland and degraded forest containing bamboo across north-eastern India and adjoining mainland Asia to Vietnam. Birds feed on tender bamboo shoots and foliage together with seeds, berries, other shoots and invertebrates. Breeding is reported from March to September. The nest is a grass-lined scrape on the ground; the female incubates for 18–19 days while the male remains nearby and later helps attend the chicks (Wikipedia, general species account).