Editing Grey partridge (section)

==Description==
The grey partridge is a rotund bird, 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. Hens lay up to twenty eggs in a ground nest. The nest is usually in the margin of a cereal field, most commonly [[winter wheat]].

'''Measurements''':<ref name="BWP">{{cite book | last=Cramp | first=Stanley | title=Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa |volume=II Hawks to Bustards | publisher=Oxford university press | publication-place=Oxford London New York | date=1980 | isbn=0-19-857505-X | page=486–496 }}</ref>
* '''Length''': {{convert|29|-|31|cm|abbr=on}}
* '''Wingspan''': {{convert|45|-|48|cm|abbr=on}}
* '''Weight''' (''P. p. perdix''): {{convert|320|-|455|g|abbr=on}}
* '''Weight''' (''P. p. robusta''): {{convert|350|-|600|g|abbr=on}}

Males and females are the same size, and very similar in plumage, though the females tend to be slightly duller, and have a smaller dark belly patch.<ref name="Collins">[[Lars Svensson (ornithologist)|Svensson, L.]], [[Killian Mullarney|Mullarney, K.]], & [[Dan Zetterström|Zetterström, D.]] (2022) ''[[Collins Bird Guide]]'', ed. 3. {{ISBN|978-0-00-854746-2}}, pages 58–59</ref> In the hand, the so-called "cross of Lorraine" on the tertiary coverts of females are marked with two transverse bars, as opposed to the one in males.{{cn|date=November 2024}} These are present after around 16 weeks of age when the birds have moulted into adult plumage. Young grey partridges are mostly yellow-brown and lack the distinctive face and underpart markings.<ref name="Collins"/> The song is a harsh, high-pitched ''kieerr-ik''. When disturbed, like most gamebirds, it flies a short distance on rounded wings, often calling ''rick rick rick'' as it rises.<ref name="Collins"/>

They are a seed-eating species, but the young in particular take [[insect]]s as an essential [[protein]] supply. During the first 10 days of life, the young can only digest insects. The parents lead their chicks to the edges of [[cereal]] fields, where they can forage for insects.