Chukars are ground-loving birds that quickly run uphill or burst from cover with rapid wing-beats and a characteristic whitoo call if alarmed.

Introduced by managers wishing to increase hunting opportunities in arid western North America, the chukar is a very successful exotic species that occupies habitats where few other gamebirds exist. It is the most harvested upland bird in Oregon.

It is a common permanent resident of eastern Oregon. Populations are distributed in steppe habitats along the breaks of the Columbia, John Day, Snake, Owyhee, Deschutes, Malheur, Burnt and Grand Ronde rivers and lesser watercourses or reservoirs.

Hear the call of the chukar

Photo by Dave Budeau, ODFW