General Description: Chukar (Alectoris chukar) are gray-brown ground birds (pheasants) that would rather run than fly. Chukar have a white face outlined in black and several vertical, black-and-white bars on the sides. The bill and eye-ring are red.

Taxonomy: Galliformes, Phasianidae, Phasianinae

Favored Habitat: Desert scrub, brushy areas.

Where to Find: Around Las Vegas, Chukar are fairly easy to hear and see at a distance (ask hunters!) in mountainous areas at middle and lower elevations, but they are hard to see up close. However, they become habituated to humans and are fairly easy to see in picnic areas at Red Rock Canyon NCA. Check the Willow Springs and Calico Basin picnic areas for this species.

Comments: Chukar have been widely introduced throughout the western deserts for hunting. Chukar were first released into the Nevada desert in 1935, and they thrive here because this habitat is comparable to their native ranges in the Middle East and southeastern Asia.

Chukar nests under rocks or shrubs where females lay 8 to 14 eggs at a time. Chicks leave the nest quickly after hatching. Within a week of hatching the young begin to fly and forage for their own food.

Chukar have a variety of calls for communicating with one another. The most well-known, and also the origin of their name, is the rally call. Rally calls intensify in volume and tempo, beginning with a slow “chuk-chuk-chuk" and escalating to a faster “chukar-chukar-chukar.” Some explain the latter as a cackle, which hikers can hear echoing off rocky hillsides or canyon walls. Hunters sometimes say that the cackling calls feel a bit like mockery as they tirelessly chase these elusive birds across rugged terrain.