The grey partridge formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tetrao perdix.

[5] Eight subspecies are recognised by the IOC World Bird List,[5] though the differences are clinal, and not all are accepted by other authorities; the HBW/BirdLife International list only accepts six subspecies;[6] the differences noted below: The grey partridge is a rotund bird, brown-backed, with grey flanks and chest.

[10] In the hand, the so-called "cross of Lorraine" on the tertiary coverts of females are marked with two transverse bars, as opposed to the one in males.

Widespread and common throughout much of its range, the grey partridge is evaluated as "of Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

It has been introduced widely as a gamebird into Canada, United States, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

[citation needed] Though common and not threatened, it is declining in numbers in some areas of intensive cultivation such as the United Kingdom, due to a loss of breeding habitat and insecticides harming insect numbers, an important food source for the species.