Flights of fancy: How the chukar partridge is finding a new lease of life

"İki keklik bir kayada ötüyor

Ötme de keklik derdim bana yetiyor”

(Two partridges are singing on a rock

Don’t sing, oh partridge, my pain is enough for me)

For generations of people, the ubiquitous chukar partridge has been part of Türkiye’s socio-cultural landscape – kept in households as pets, mentioned in poems to highlight a lover’s lament or finding a place in Turkish folktales which narrate the deep bond between humans and nature.

But over the years, the number of chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar) has seen an alarming decrease in nature due to many reasons, including poisoning deaths from pesticides and hunting. The meat of the partridge is a delicacy in many regions.

However, all is not lost.

Recently, hundreds of chukar partridges raised under the 2023 Poultry Wildlife Programme were released in nature at the Tek Tek Mountains National Park in Türkiye’s southeastern province of Sanliurfa as well in the provinces of Hakkari and Kars.

The avian release was part of the government’s wide-ranging conservation efforts. In addition to the officials, residents of the region actively participated by raising partridges in local farms.

The chukar partridge is one of the few species in the animal kingdom which can adapt to life in the wild after being bred and raised in captivity.

Nature Conservation and National Parks Regional Director Haci Ahmet Cicek says the department is trying to increase the partridge population in the region. He hopes that citizens will support the project as the bird plays an important part in nature.

"Partridges left to nature play an active role in combating the Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF). The bird feeds on ticks which spreads the germs of the fever,” Cicek tells TRT World.

Also, the expert adds that their appetite for the sunn pest, which causes agricultural production loss, makes the bird a natural pest controller.

Habitats under threat

Experts attribute the fall in the number of chukar partridge – known as kınalı keklik in the Turkish language – to the loss of its natural habitats due to increasing human activities, including building industries and agricultural mechanisation.

Wilderness areas being turned into agricultural land, coupled with excessive usage of pesticides and fertilisers in farming and unregulated hunting, have had detrimental effects on wildlife habitats.

One of the most adaptable birds known, the mother chukar employs a clever tactic by feigning injury to divert the attention of predators away from her offspring.

Named after the sound it makes – a high-pitched “chuk, chuk, chuk” – the chukar partridge is much more than just a bird for the Turkish people.

It is part of the Anatolian way of life, symbolising their connection to the natural world.