Black partridge

For the 19th century Potawatomi chieftain, see Black Partridge (chief).

The black partridge (Melanoperdix niger), also known as the black wood partridge, is a small (up to 27 cm long) partridge with a thick bill, grey legs and dark brown iris. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Melanoperdix.

Black partridge
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Subfamily:	Rollulinae
Genus:	Melanoperdix Jerdon, 1864
Species:	M. niger
Binomial name
Melanoperdix niger (Vigors, 1829)

The black partridge is sexually dimorphic. The male has entirely glossy black plumage and a black bill, while the female is generally a chestnut-brown bird with a whitish throat and belly and a dark horn-colored bill. The female is smaller than the male.

The black partridge occurs in lowland rainforests of Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra in southeast Asia. It was formerly found but is long extinct on Singapore. The female usually lays five to six white eggs.

Due to ongoing habitat loss, small population size and overhunting in some areas, the black partridge is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix III of CITES in Malaysia.

Subspecies

The black partridge has two recognized subspecies:^[2]

• M. n. borneensis (Rothschild, 1917)
• M. n. niger (Vigors, 1829)