Both parents help care for the young. These family groups, along with other adults that were unsuccessful in raising young, form the coveys observed later in the year. Food Habits Insects and other invertebrates supply badly needed protein for rapidly growing chicks. During the summer months, partridge broods often feed in the cover provided by soybean fields switching to cornfields in early fall. In winter, partridge will scratch and burrow under snow in search of waste grain and green vegetation.
Some studies indicate partridge eat much more green matter than pheasants.
As with pheasants, lack of suitable, undisturbed nesting habitat is thought to be an important limiting factor for gray partridge. Mowing and burning of road ditches during the nesting season and removal of old farmsteads and fencerows greatly reduces the amount of available nesting habitat in some parts of Iowa. Other research shows gray partridge reproduce best during droughty-warm springs in Iowa with lower reproduction in most other years. Gray partridge are native to the arid steppe regions of Eurasia and most Iowa springs are wetter than their indigenous range, which leads to lower reproductive success in Iowa. Unlike pheasants, lack of winter habitat does not seem to be a serious limiting factor for gray partridge.