
Common Names 
The red-legged partridges have acquired fewer common names 
than have many other birds. Most of the names refer to the reddish 
color of legs and beak. Among them are: 
Red-legged partridge General 
French red-legged partridge England 
French partridge England 
Perdix rouge France 
De Koode patrijis Holland 
Rothuhn Germany 
Pernice Italy 
Perdiz Spain, Portugal 
Perdiz roja Spain — 
Redleg United States 
French (or Spanish) redleg United States 
Taxonomy (1) and Distribution (1,2) 
Order Galliformes 
Family Phasianidae 
Genus Alectoris 
Species Alectoris rufa 
Subspecies Five 
Alectoris rufa rufa France, Northern Italy, 
England, Balearic Islands 
Alectoris rufa hispanica Northern Spain and Portugal, 
Madeira 
Alectoris rufa intercedens Southern Spain and Portugal 
Alectoris rufa corsa Corsica 
Alectoris rufa australis Grand Canary Island, 
In Europe the red-legged partridges are resident and 
generally abundant in central and southern France south of the Loire 
River, and in the Wallis valleys of Switzerland. They are much less 
abundant, and perhaps introduced, in northern France, Belgium, 
Holland, and western Germany. Brought into Britain many years ago 
they have spread widely and become common birds of the Midlands and 
southern England. In overhunted northern Italy they are occasional 
to fairly common in the Piedmont, in Liguria, and in the north and 
central valleys of the Appenines. They are found over most of Spain 
and Portugal as well as on the Islands of Elba, Montecristo, Corsica, 
the Azores, and Gran Canaria. 
