Species: Perdix perdix

Feeds primarily on seeds of wheat, corn, barley, oats, smartweeds, lambs's quarters, crabgrass, etc. Also eats leaves of clover, alfalfa, bluegrass, dandelion, etc. Chicks feed on insects for first few weeks of life. In eastern South Dakota, row crop grains (corn, sunflowers) dominated late fall, winter, and spring diets; small grains (oats, barley, wheat, rye) rarely were consumed though widely available; ate more leafy vegetation when row crop grains were buried by snow; insects dominated early summer diet; foxtail seeds were the major late summer and early fall food (Hupp et al. 1988).