The Partridge Family

So we're driving down the road, slowing down, looking for a hawk that's been hanging around near our place and...
Surprise!



The partridge family pops up on the road!
Gray Partridge (Perdix perdix )
I think that's what we saw. The pics weren't that clear.
I barely had time to take a few pics thru the windshield before they disappeared into the ditch.
I counted eight in her brood.

One baby got a little confused by all the excitement and lingered a tad longer alongside the road.



cornell
"Gray Partridge hens produce some of the largest clutches of any bird species. Clutch size can range up to 22 eggs, and averages 16 to 18."

enature

npwrc
Family Phasianidae (same family as ring-necked pheasant)

(NOTE: ENature says grouse too, but npwrc has grouse under a different family, Tetraonidae. I'm assuming ENature and Cornell are probably more up-to-date than npwrc.)