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This is how partridge handle 17 degrees below zero.

Yesterday the wind was from the east, which is uncommon . Temperatures were about minus 10F with 15-20 mph wind. The partridge took refuge on the west side of the house. They don't look comfortable to me, but they soon appeared in the yard , scratching for something to eat.






"Made it through the night" Minus 14 F at the moment

A few weeks ago there were 21 birds, then 20 in a couple of days. There are still 20 as of a few minutes ago. We have wondered what they were eating when they chose our lawn. I think it is the frozen green lawn grass that they are digging up. At least, that’s what I see in the areas where they scratched up food. There is a coulee near our place and I guess they winter in the brush there. But, they like what this frozen lawn has to offer, even if they have to dig for it.

Wonderful image indeed.

https://www.onthewingphotography.com/wings/gray-partridge-images/
"Jugging" - The roosting of a covey of partridges (family Phasianidae), the group in the roost being called a 'jug'.

Possibly from the Scots 'jougs' - a round iron collar

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ecology-grey-partridge-perdix-mervyn-p-walsh
In fine weather, the night is spent in a tight group in open areas preferably 25-80m from the nearest tree; a behaviour known as ‘jugging’.


I was hunting in NE KS in the above 0 teens in 10" of snow. My setter went on point, pointing at snow and no cover. I foolishly didn't trust the dog, but kicked around and out popped 6 quail that were in a snow-covered hole. Felt bad about disturbing them.

Archibald Thorburn "Hard Times - Partridges and a Hare", 1892

Well done Drew in finding references. I remember some years ago when on a sniping exercise on some open heather moorland. I must have been well cammed in because I had a pack of red grouse land all around me. What interested me most was the faint little calls that they made. I suppose that landing in thick heather they would need to call the brood together for the night and the faint calls were a way of doing just that. Quite a privilege to be a part of and I only wish I could have recorded it in some way as I would doubt many would have witnessed this behaviour. After a couple of minutes they must have rumbled me as they moved off somewhere else. Lagopus.....

Another Thorburn "Partridges in a Winter Landscape"

Thorburn's "Red Partridges", 1913 calling up the brood

Parabola, the birds in this case were red grouse. Difficult to describe the sound but it was a series of faint cheeps and churs. I would doubt if it has ever been recorded anywhere. To be right in the middle of the pack as it landed was possibly an unique experience. Lagopus.....

The weather turned bad again, and the partridge have returned. Now, they are pairing up for the nesting season. Note the little fellow diving into the snow in search for food or cover.

That’s a healthy covey of huns! They’ll be fine I think. Is there sage, grass or shrubs nearby? Kind of odd they’re just out in the open like that unless they were sunning.

Great photo. They sometimes do this at night with heads in all directions for security as well as warmth. The behaviour is called 'Jugging'. Lagopus.....

Lagopus, I'll look forward to any information you can provide.
Parabola, my wife, who actually took the above picture, liked your "jugging" idea. So do I.

For those interested, today there was the group of 20, but also a group of 17 at the sliding glass door in the basement. Such fun. We last had Huns around maybe 20 years ago when the surrounding fields were in wheat. The group of 17 has burrowed into the snow, almost like they are dead, but one fellow is there with his head up.

We go to -23F tomorrow AM, and recent bit of snow covers everything. So bad for the phez and partridge. Had 8 sharptails in soybean stubble near the house yesterday, but there is nothing visible above the snow. I don't worry about them as much as the introduced species as they have emergency foods like buckbrush and silverberry fruit common in native pastures.