Avalus has a penchant for finding interesting things to photograph on his way to work. Here are a few colourful birds, and he says,
… a flock of birds I encountered on my way to work. Again, I have no idea what kind of bird they are.
©Avalus, all rights reserved
They look like some sort of partridge.
Partridges they are
So, partridges. In Finnish they are called peltopyy (pelto = a field for growing things, pyy means hazel grouse, another small species of landfowl), so they would have been perceived as small landfowl living on fields and meadows.
In German they’re Rebhühner, vineyard chickens
Widely introduced as sport/hunting bird in many parts of the world. I grew up in an area (northern Iowa) in which they were commonly hunted, along with introduced ring-necked pheasants.
I would’ve guessed quail, if they were in my area. The partridges do look similar, and they are very cute.
But did the partridge family make you happy? That’s the question.
Not quite sure why that nationality stuck, but I always heard them referred to as Hungarian partridges, even when not flavored with paprika.
Ice Swimmer wrote:
As opposed to woodlands, where hazel grouse and other native game fowls live. The partridge is an introduced species in Finland, whereas pyy (hazel grouse) happens to be one of the most ancient Finnish words derived from Proto-Uralic several thousand years ago. However, modern Finns might not be aware that pyy and peltopyy are different birds, and might easily mistranslate pyy as “partridge”.
lumipuna @ 9
Also, while this probably doesn’t increase mistranslations, but both Pyy and Partridge are both surnames (for example fashion designer Outi Pyy and linguist Eric Partridge). Peltopyy and Hazel Grouse AFAIK aren’t (unless someone has a double-barreled surname Pelto-Pyy or Hazel-Grouse).