Chukar Partridge (Alectoris chukar) in Anchorage

Observation by Nadine Kochuten:

I have never seen type of bird in my yard before. I thought it was a grouse. I live in Anchorage. My friend told me it was a Chukar Partridge. It hung out for a couple hours and wasn't afraid of me or passing traffic. It ran away from a raven a few times, but mostly just picked through the rocks in the road.

Comments from LEO Editors:

This certainly looks like a Chukar (Alectoris chukar). Chukars are a game bird native to Eurasia that have become established in the western US, where they thrive in dry, rocky shrubland, pasture lands, and sagebrush flats.

This is the second sighting reported to LEO in the past few weeks. On May 19th, Anita Moore-Nall spotted a Chukar in her yard. Chukars are often imported and used to train hunting dogs. In Alaska, there's no permit for this process because if they do get loose, they are unlikely to establish a permanent population.