Scottish Partridge is a small compact bird with a rounded head sitting on top of a short, thick neck. Light brown on its back, it has bright barring on its flanks, a dark eye stripe above pale throat feathers, a black and slightly speckled collar and vivid red bill and legs.The red legged partridge is not indigenous to Scotland and is also known as the French Partridge having been introduced from Europe in the 1700's. It is now so widespread that it is considered as a Scottish game bird and must be distinguished from the English (Grey) Partridge which is not widely shot due to a decline in numbers.
These particular partridges have adapted to many habitats in Scotland and thrive on heath land, woodland edges, field margins and moorland fringes, feeding mainly on cereals and seeds, together with insects when young. Shooting partridge in Scotland has become more and more popular as they can be presented over the guns in many different ways - high or low. They are reared in large numbers in a similar way to pheasants but are released into the wild gradually over the season as they are harder to keep in one place than the pheasants.
