Sichuan Partridge

The Sichuan partridge lives mostly in southern Sichuan Province, in southwest China. It is also found in northern Yunnan, including Laojun Mountain. It prefers primary and older planted secondary broadleaf forest, rather than one with human activity close by. Prefers a dense canopy and more open understory. The major habitats (in ranking order) are Primary Broadleaf Forest, old replanted Broadleaf Forest, Degraded Forest, and scrub. It prefers thick shrubs for roosting. Recent work on the species in Laojunshan Nature Reserve found that the species occurred in secondary broadleaf forest but not in settlements, coniferous plantations or farmland. The same study found that birds typically occurred between 1400 and 1800m above sea level in the reserve, and mostly on gently sloping ground close to water sources.

The Sichuan partridge is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Before 1998 there was no ban on logging, and Chinese forestry authorities paid little to no attention to the ecosystems and habitats these broadleaf forest partridges are often living in. Most of their habitat was divided in forest farms. With a decrease in Sichuan partridge's habitat the population of the species greatly became at risk. This was until the National Forest Protection Programme was enacted, where deforestation became prohibited in this region especially stopping of deforestation in upper Yangtze. This has halted the threat temporarily, but other factors including traditions of livestock browsing, bamboo shoot and medicinal plant collection all affect the habitat of this species. Hunting is another large problem for the decrease of these partridges. The long-term survival is unknown. Conservation plans are hindered by the lack of knowledge of the need for these birds. According to this study, the Sichuan partridge shows no real preference between a primary broadleaf and a replant broadleaf forest. The planted broadleaf forest have about five dominant tree species and within only 15-20 years the planted resembles a primary forest. This can result in a larger habitat for this species of partridge. These new reserves, which have been protected since 1998, are thought to allow a stable population of the Sichuan partridge.