Black Partridge Melanoperdix niger Scientific name definitions

c. 24–27 cm; male c. 280 g (1 McGowan, P. (1998). Weights of some birds from the Malaysian forest floor. Forktail. 14: 78. Close ), female 281 g (2 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Male very distinctive, showing combination of short thick bill and glossy black plumage (flight feathers dark brown) (2 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Peculiar bill distinguishes slightly smaller (2 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) female from other predominantly chestnut species; upperparts almost unmarked, but has paler, more buffish or almost whitish chin/throat and belly/undertail-coverts (2 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Iris dark brown, facial skin black, bill black (male) or dark horn (female) and legs blue-grey (2 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Juvenile male resembles female but soon acquires black plumage (2 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); juvenile female is paler above, with blackish vermiculations and pale spotting, and bold white spotting on breast-sides and flanks (2 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Races very similar; male borneensis said to be less deep black with slight greenish tinge and feathers of upperparts have paler fringes, and female reportedly deeper chestnut-brown on breast.

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Primary and tall secondary (2 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) lowland forest, usually with many spiny stemless palms (Bertram) in undergrowth; also in wetland forest (e.g. peat swamp and alluvial forest) in Sumatra and Kalimantan, and tall heath-forest (perenget) (4 van Balen, S.(B.) and Fischer, J.H. (2016). The little-known, confusing calls of Black Partridge Melanoperdix niger. BirdingASIA. 25: 77–79. Close ). Down to sea-level, but upper altitude limit unknown; has been reported recently at 1200 m in Ulu Barito, Kalimantan, and Kelabit Uplands, Sarawak (5 Mann, C. F. (2008). The Birds of Borneo: An Annotated Checklist. B.O.U. Checklist 23. British Ornithologists’ Union, and British Ornithologists’ Club, Peterborough. Close ), but unknown above 600 m in Peninsular Malaysia (6 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

No information available; presumably sedentary. Runs when disturbed, although typically sits tight until approaching human is only a few metres away.

No information available, although strong bill suggests that it feeds on hard seeds. Typically observed singly or in pairs.

Poorly known and had been assumed to be somewhat quiet. Contact call apparently resembles heavy old door, creaking on its hinges, but dispute existed concerning advertisement call, reported to be a double whistle similar to Rollulus rouloul (2 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) and recently clarified (from observations in C Kalimantan) to comprise two types: (i) two whistles of same length and quality, and (ii) an initial shorter note (0·4 seconds long that rises slightly) and a second note with a trembling quality (0·7 seconds long) rising more obviously, with 0·2-second gap between whistles and each pair of whistles given at 16-second intervals (range 8–27 seconds), while series of whistles are given at 40–67-second intervals (4 van Balen, S.(B.) and Fischer, J.H. (2016). The little-known, confusing calls of Black Partridge Melanoperdix niger. BirdingASIA. 25: 77–79. Close ). A female released after ringing gave a chicken-like “chor-ro-roh” (6 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ) and a very similar cackling call has been heard from a male that was also trapped (4 van Balen, S.(B.) and Fischer, J.H. (2016). The little-known, confusing calls of Black Partridge Melanoperdix niger. BirdingASIA. 25: 77–79. Close ).

Little information available. Mating system unknown. One clutch of two eggs found in Jan, one of three in May, and four of five eggs in Sept, all on Borneo, with another record of just-hatched eggs in mid Jun (5 Mann, C. F. (2008). The Birds of Borneo: An Annotated Checklist. B.O.U. Checklist 23. British Ornithologists’ Union, and British Ornithologists’ Club, Peterborough. Close ); downy young there in late Oct, and downy young Malaysia Peninsula in late Aug and well-grown chicks Aug–Sept (2 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Clutch in captivity 5–6 white eggs (2 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Incubation 18–19 days (in captivity). Downy chick is orange-buff below, darker above, with bay-brown forecrown to nape and narrow band through ear-coverts (6 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

VULNERABLE. Mace Lande: vulnerable. Formerly considered Near Threatened. Believed to be very sparsely distributed in Peninsular Malaysia and probably also in Indonesia; extirpated in Singapore (2 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), although 19th-century specimens from the latter state might well have been imported from Sumatra (6 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Extreme scarcity of records (known from just 25 localities prior to mid 1990s) (7 McGowan, P., M. Gillman, and M. Dodd (1998). Assessing the status of poorly known species: lessons from partridges and pheasants of Southeast Asia. Biological Conservation 83(1):1–7. Close ) makes any population estimate very difficult, but numbers presumed to be decreasing; never widely encountered, and status and trend therefore implied from current state of known habitat. Wetland and peat swamp forest still widespread in Indonesia, but even this habitat type is now becoming threatened. Occurs in Pasoh Forest Reserve, Krau Wildlife Reserve and Gunung Mulu National Park (Sarawak) in Malaysia; and, in Indonesia, in Berbak Game Reserve on Sumatra, and Tanjung Puting National Park, Gunung Palung Nature Reserve and Mawas Conservation Area (8 Posa, M. R. C., and D. A. Marques (2012). Peat swamp forest birds of the Tuanan research station, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, with notes on habitat specialists. Forktail 28:29–37. Close ) in Kalimantan. Not protected by Indonesian law. Threatened by habitat loss and alteration: clear felling for timber; forest loss to agriculture; and forest degradation. Clarification of species’ distribution, especially in protected areas, is required, as is general research. CITES III in Malaysia.