Pheasants, partridges, chicken, turkey, grouse, peafowl, and quail
These are gamebirds with short, curved bills, small heads, rounded bodies and short legs. They are skilled runners that can only fly a few hundred feet when escaping danger. The males are normally more colourful than the females and have elaborate courtship behaviours (strutting, fluffing of tail or head feathers and vocal sounds. Except pheasants, where the males have little to do with the family, they are social birds, usually found in family groups. Most are resident birds, but quails are long-distance migrants, spending the winter in Africa.
This group has about 290 species and contains five families.
Phasianidae (chicken, quail, partridges, pheasants, turkeys, and grouse), Odontophoradae (New World quail), Numididae (guineafowl), Cracidae and Megapodidae (fallee fowl and brush turkeys).