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Pakistan
World & History
A plump game bird with red legs and beak, a black band across the face and neck, and striped flanks, common on dry, rocky hillsides.
The chukar is a member of the pheasant family, about the size of a pigeon but rounder. It prefers to run rather than fly, escaping uphill on foot and gliding down slopes when it must take to the air. Its call, a loud 'chuk-chuk-chukar', gives it its name.
It lives on rocky, grassy slopes in the hills and mountains across much of Pakistan, from the Salt Range and Potohar to Balochistan and the northern valleys.
In Urdu and Persian poetry the chakor is a symbol of love and longing: legend says it is in love with the moon and gazes at it all night. It is also a popular game bird, and keeping chukars for their fighting spirit is a traditional pastime in parts of Pakistan.