On March 07, 2013, Estonian Post issued one stamp features the game-bird species as bird of this year, Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix), also known as the English Partridge, Hungarian Partridge.
The Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix) is a small bird of the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. who mainly lives in farmland – in fields as well in pasturelands.
The Grey Partridge is a rotund bird, 28–32 cm long, brown-backed, with grey flanks and chest. The belly is white, usually marked with a large chestnut-brown horse-shoe mark in males, and also in many females.
The Grey Partridge passes the winter in groups, often in the vicinity of human settlements. The groups split up in April when coupling takes place. In the nesting period, in May to June, they lead a very covert way of life.
There are presumably about 4,000 to 8,000 couples of the grey partridge in Estonia at present.They are a seed-eating species, but the young in particular take insects as an essential protein supply.
The nest usually has from 15 to 20 eggs on the ground, and the young fledge at ten days old. It is a species of dwindling numbers that are most affected by predation and by the use of pesticides in farming.
The species has been successfully introduced to many parts of the world for shooting, including vast areas of North America, where it is most commonly known as Hungarian partridge. Widespread and common throughout its large range, the Grey Partridge is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
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