Weird Patridge - any ideas?

[Wisebird]

Living out in the wilds of Norfolk we often have partridge nests in our garden. This year we had the customary pair of patridges, but unfortunately one of the pair was killed on the road. The other bird appeared distressed and called for days on end but eventually managed to hatch single handed the two lots of eggs that she had laid However, she had no desire to rear the chicks and these all died within a couple of hours of leaving the nest, with her actually throwing some of them about until they were too weak to follow! Since then she has become very, very tame. She visits our houses, calls for food and eats from my hand and watches us at work in the garden, seeming quite content to take up permanent residence. She now sitting on 2 eggs (obviously not fertile). Is this unusual behaviour for a partridge - would the death of a mate have caused this disturbed behaviour towards the chicks? Any thoughts would be welcome

[Elfin]

Are we talking Grey Partridge or Red-Legged Partridge here?

[Wisebird]

She's a red legged partridge

[Elfin]

Red-legged Partridge do sometimes (as you say) build two nests, lay a clutch in each, and then the male and female take care of each brood simultaneously and independently. Perhaps she rejected "his" nest more, hence throwing those chicks around. This is really sad isn't it. She was clearly so distressed, and perhaps she's just going through the motions now. As the Red-Legged variety were introduced for shooting, there must be lots of partnerless birds after the season, so maybe they do subsequently pair up again with another mate. I hope so! Have to wait until the new year to see - in the meantime, she seems to enjoy being looked after and kept amused. I also live out in the sticks and have resident partridges and pheasants. Their tameness doesn't seem to stop them going "back to the wild" for weeks/months at a time. It would be interesting to hear the outcome of this anyway :-)

[Wisebird]

Thanks Elfin. I'm getting very fond of her! I dread the shooting season, and living in North Norfolk it's a big industry up here! Still, she will have to take her chances - at least I know she's well fed and has some company at the moment. I enjoyed your reply about people not liking animals. Best Wishes.