Barbary Partridge

Alectoris barbara

Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Presence in the Strait: Resident
Abundance: scarce
IUCN (global): LC · Least concern
In Spanish: Perdiz moruna

Photograph: FritsM, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 32–34 cm
Wingspan: 46–49 cm
Weight: 375–460 g

Presence in the Strait

Scarce resident very localised in Ceuta and Gibraltar (<35 pairs), places where it was introduced towards the start of the 16th Century.

Identification

Similar to the Red-legged Partridge but with softer toned plumage with dark forehead, crown and nape, grey throat and breast, broad supercilium and reddish-brown collar. When gliding, maintains the position of wings just above the horizontal.

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

16 %

Peak in March. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 30 January 1835
Latest record: 27 October 2025

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Not included
Spanish Catalogue: Not included
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: EN · Endangered · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Same genus in the Strait

Red-legged Partridge32–34 cm · Resident · overlapping size

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
GBIF taxon key: 2474045

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: FritsM, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Barbary Partridge

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Gallery