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Kōrero: Game birds

Upland game birds: chukor

Upland game birds: chukor

Dubbed the ‘grey ghost’ by some hunters, chukor are found in higher, drier areas of Marlborough, Canterbury and Central Otago. They are uncommon and challenging to hunt – few game-bird hunters have seen one, let alone shot one.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Private collection

Reference: Geoff Moon, The Reed field guide to New Zealand birds. Auckland: Reed, 1992, p. 97.

by Geoff Moon

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Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Neil Deans, Game birds – Game birds in New Zealand, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/16708/upland-game-birds-chukor (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Neil Deans, i tāngia i te 30 October 2009, updated 20 April 2025.

Comments

Geraldine Leaman
22 October 2023
I have just spotted the above bird in my garden in Wistaston, near Crewe Cheshire this afternoon. I took some photos I think it’s a young bird.
Jackie Boulton
12 November 2010
I saw a chukor on Nov 7th. We were driving through Molesworth Station, & were in the vicinity of Ward's Pass.