Chestnut-breasted Partridge

The chestnut-breasted partridge is a distinctive partridge with a chestnut breast band and grey belly, endemic to the eastern Himalayas north of the Brahmaputra. It occurs in Bhutan, Darjeeling, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and south-eastern Tibet at elevations from 350 to 2,500m. It is told from the similar rufous-throated partridge by a more rufescent crown and head sides, a white gorget and an entirely chestnut upper breast (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is threatened by forest degradation and by hunting, and is known from at least three protected areas, including Singalila and Namdapha National Parks. The first photograph of the species in the wild was taken in Arunachal Pradesh in 2015. The scientific name commemorates the Italian naturalist Louis Mandelli.