Ptilopachus petrosus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The stone partridge (Ptilopachus petrosus) is a bird of the New World quail family. This largely brown bird, which commonly holds its tail raised, is found in scrubland and lightly wooded habitats, often near rocks, from Kenya and Ethiopia to Gambia (a large part of its range is in the Sudanian Savanna).
The stone partridge was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other partridge like birds in the genus Tetrao and coined the binomial name Tetrao petrosus. Gmelin's description was based on the Comte de Buffon's "Le perdrix de roche ou de la Gambia" and John Latham's "Rufous-breasted partridge". The stone partridge is now placed with Nahan's partridge in the genus Ptilopachus that was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist William Swainson. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek ptilon meaning "feather" with pakhus meaning "thick" or "dense". The specific epithet petrosus is Latin meaning "rocky".
Four subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 2 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Walsrode World Bird Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Valencia Bioparc | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | Avifauna | 🇪🇸 Spain |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Stone Partridge sighting in Niokolo-Koba National Park on a given day, based on 96 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 81st most-seen of the 215 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Stone Partridge in Niokolo-Koba National Park on a given day, against about 10% in April, the lowest month. That is one of Niokolo-Koba National Park's wettest months, with about 230 mm of rain against almost none in January. May–July and October have too few records to rate.
Between 5 and 8 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Stone Partridge sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Yes
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Stone Partridge sightings, Niokolo-Koba National Park has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Kidepo Valley National Park (Uganda, about 20%).
Same order: Galliformes
The closest relatives of the Stone Partridge that you can see in Niokolo-Koba National Park (order Galliformes, Landfowl) are Double-spurred Francolin (about 60%) and Helmeted Guineafowl (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Stone Partridge is recorded against all the birds logged in Niokolo-Koba National Park (96 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
