Snow partridge
Lerwa lerwa (Hodgson, 1833)
The snow partridge (Lerwa lerwa) is a species in the family Phasianidae, order Galliformes. Recorded adults weigh 567.3 g to 581.5 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the snow partridge
- Weight
- 567.3 g – 581.5 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the snow partridge live?
Not recorded
What is the snow partridge?
The snow partridge (Lerwa lerwa) is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae found widely distributed across the high-altitude Himalayan regions of Pakistan, China, India and Nepal. It is the only species within its genus, and is thought to be the most basal member of the "erectile clade" of the subfamily Phasianinae. The species is found in alpine pastures and open hillside above the treeline but not in as bare rocky terrain as the Himalayan snowcock and is not as wary as that species. Males and females look similar in plumage but males have a spur on their tarsus.
From the Wikipedia article “Snow partridge” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Snow_partridge&oldid=1315234884), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the snow partridge endangered?
The snow partridge is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the snow partridge classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderGalliformes
- familyPhasianidae
- genusLerwa
- SpeciesLerwa lerwa (Hodgson, 1833)
Synonyms Lerwa lerwa callipygia, Lerwa lerwa lerwa, Lerwa lerwa major, Perdix lerwa
Other names and names in other languages (30)
- حجل الثلجArabic
- gall nival bec-roigCatalan
- koroptev sněžníCzech
- petrisen eiraWelsh
- SnehøneDanish
- HaldenhuhnGerman
- neĝa perdrikoEsperanto
- Perdiz lerwaSpanish
- lumekanaEstonian
- himalajanpyyFinnish
- Lerva des neigesFrench
- Patraisc shneachtaIrish
- pjegavi jarebCroatian
- hófogolyHungarian
- Pernice delle neviItalian
- ユキシャコJapanese
- snieginė kurapkaLithuanian
- Butānas sniegirbeLatvian
- SneeuwpatrijsDutch
- sherpahøneNorwegian
- śnieżnikPolish
- perdiz-das-nevesPortuguese
- Снежная куропаткаRussian
- lerva snežnáSlovak
- Snežna jarebica lervaSerbian
- sherpahönaSwedish
- Kar KekliğiTurkish
- куріпка сніжнаUkrainian
- 雪鶉Chinese
- 雪鹑Chinese
Relatives of the snow partridge
Other species in the same family Phasianidae.
Common quail
Coturnix coturnix
Indian peafowl
Pavo cristatus
Western capercaillie
Tetrao urogallus
Common pheasant
Phasianus colchicus
Grey partridge
Perdix perdix
Red junglefowl
Gallus gallus
CompareSnow partridge vs Common quailSnow partridge vs Indian peafowlSnow partridge vs Western capercaillieSnow partridge vs Common pheasant
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the snow partridge?
An adult snow partridge weighs 567.3 g – 581.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the snow partridge endangered?
The snow partridge is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the snow partridge?
The snow partridge (Lerwa lerwa) belongs to the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Snow partridge (Lerwa lerwa). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/snow-partridge
“Snow partridge (Lerwa lerwa).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/snow-partridge.
@misc{snow_partridge_2026,
title = {Snow partridge (Lerwa lerwa)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/snow-partridge},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}