The Cheeky Chukars of Calico

On the dry, desolate, rocky slopes of remote desert regions across the western U.S. there lives a bird known to some as... the "devil bird."  

To others, it is more properly known as the Chukar. 

And aren't they cheeky little critters!

If a Chukar could give cheek... 

The Chukar's name derives from its unique call, a sort of clucking sound that suggests its near kinship to other game birds, including grouse, partridge, pheasant, turkey, and - you guessed it - Red Junglefowl, the original wild ancestor of the domestic chicken.  

Peeky cheeky Chukar (the children's book that you didn't know needed to be written)

While Chukars tend to be quite vocal, they can be difficult to find in the vastness of their arid, sandy habitats.  Their soft gray and tan coloration blends in beautifully with the surrounding desert, and these birds are surprisingly agile on their feet, quickly scrambling up rocky hillsides to evade predators - including those of the two-legged variety.  (Hence their rather unkind nickname, no doubt born of hunters' frustration.)

Strutting Chukar (All safe from hunters in this here town!)

As a gamebird, Chukars are the favored quarry of many a sportsman, and were introduced to North America from their native range across the Middle East and central Asia solely for the purpose of giving sport.  They made their debut in California in the 1930's, and have since established populations largely east of the Sierran crest, in the Great Basin and Mojave deserts.  

So beloved is the Chukar in its native homeland that it is the national bird of both Pakistan and Iraq.

Regal Chukar, as befits a national symbol

Chukars are beautifully striking in appearance, and also a little bit comical.  Somehow I find them reminiscent of both a quail and a puffin, simultaneously.  Males and females look very similar, and though they're about the same size and shape as quail, in North America Chukars are entirely unique and easily separated from any other species.    

Chubby Chukar?

While cheeky Chukars are known to give sporting hunters a run for their money, and their habitat of choice is usually quite remote and inhospitable, there is an easier way to enjoy these charismatic birds.  

The resident Chukars are a thing in Calico...

Tucked away in the hills above Barstow, in southeastern California, there is a busy ghost town by the name of Calico where a family of Chukars provides a charming addition to the rustic western scenery.  Most tourists stop at Calico en route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas along I-15 for a taste of the real old-timey Wild West experience (complete with gun fights, saloon girls, open mine shafts, gold panning, an abundance of tacky souvenirs - the whole lot.)  

But of course we visited specifically to see the resident Chukars of Main Street... and we were not disappointed!  

Against a backdrop of rusty mining implements and various antique accoutrements, a Chukar couple called, clucked and chortled to each other, while an old prospector told fortunes in a booth nearby, tourists took selfies and kids ate ice cream cones in the street.

Yes siree: The real Wild West experience indeed.

Cheeky Chukars add an appropriately anachronistic flair to the quintessentially touristy and tacky ghost town