Novice birder here -- help me identify this bird

[Be Brave]

Aaaak, I found the birders group! I thought it didn't exist yet. Hullo everybody. I am a novice birder and your lifelists put me to shame. :) I took up the hobby a couple of years ago but have found little time to go bird-watching recently. I do love these wonderful creatures! And I'm glad there's a DU birders group.

Now to the business at hand. Please do not laugh at me (okay, you can) that I do not know what this bird is. I'm guessing that it's easy for most of you to identify this. January of last year I was at a small airport in Oregon waiting for a rental. This airport is surrounded by grassy fields and agricultural land. I looked out the glass window and saw this beauty. I had just enough time to locate my camera and shoot a really awful picture through the glass before the beauty went happily on its way. Now, this picture doesn't do the bird justice. The colors don't register because of poor lighting. I remember the bird having gray as the dominant color, with a few splashes of red, though I now don't remember where the reds were. The length of the bird is about the length of your standard bestseller book. Here is the bad picture of the bird:



So do you know what this bird is? (What's that? Do I hear laughter and ridicule?) I looked it up in my field guide. My best guess is that it is a partridge, specifically a chukar. The range looks ok.

Go ahead, I can take it. Ridicule me. :)

[semillama]

1. i think you're correct in your ID

Looks like a Chukar to me. Granted, I've never seen a "wild" one, but it sure looks like what I've seen in my guides.

[Be Brave]

2. Thank you for your opinion.

I remember thinking that it was a lovely bird.

Gotta love birds!

[Minimus]

3. Take a look at this picture

I would never ridicule you. I'm a novice too and my life list is laughable comparatively. But my sightings are backyard so I'm still proud.

Did it look like this:




Stocky, ground-dwelling quail with short, rounded wings
Short, thick, red bill
Red eyering
Black band above bill, through the eye and across upper neck
Buff face and throat enclosed by black necklace
Blue-gray crown, nape, breast and back, with a brownish suffusion on the back
White belly
Black bars on pale flanks
Rufous outer tail feathers visible in flight
Red legs and feet

[Be Brave]

4. Thanks Minimus.

It's a possibility. The barred flanks and line across the eye are quite distinct. It was also stocky, like your description says. It was really a fleeting encounter. I wish it wasn't so long ago so I can remember more!

[amazona]

5. looks like Chukar to me

They were not shy where I saw them in suburban Idaho. Now that you've seen one, maybe you'll see others. It often works like that.

Bad pictures can be a surprising good way to get an ID if you can't sketch or don't have time to sketch.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[Be Brave]

6. Thanks amazona.

I'll have to go back to that area one of these days and see if I can see more. From my local bird guidebook, that area by the airport is supposed to be a good birding spot.

I cannot sketch to save my life, and so have to rely on memory or pictures to ID. :)

[amazona]

7. well I'd count it based on that photo

I would be very confident of the ID...but only you can make the final ruling of what appears on your list.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72