Like many families on Memorial Day, we visited cemeteries to plant flowers at the resting places of our loved ones who have passed.

We often see and hear many birds during these visits as many cemeteries are located in beautiful rural settings.

Bobolinks are always a joyful sound as we attend family plots in Windsor; the sweet trills and cheers of warblers and vireos lift our spirits as we place our plantings in Washington and Waldoboro.

This year, though, as we drove into the Edgecomb cemetery, we noticed the sad sight of a road-killed bird. Unfortunately, such sights are not an uncommon occurrence; but in this case, the bird was a chukar, a game bird native to Europe and Asia.

A chukar is a chicken-like bird just a bit smaller than a ruffed grouse. It’s coloration is striking: red bill, legs and eyes, and a bold black stripe extending down from its face to its belly, with black barring on the flanks.

Even if you don’t know what it is, the first reaction you would probably have if you saw this yourself is: “This is not a bird that’s supposed to be in Maine.”

In parts of the western U.S., chukars were released and became established as breeders and permanent residents many years ago in dry, mountainous areas. In the eastern U.S. the birds are raised on game farms, and in some regions these game farm birds are released for hunting.

Birders in Maine have occasionally found chukars in recent years, often in odd places like suburban yards or at their backyard bird feeders. This spring a number have been reported, generally in Midcoast or southern Maine.

We haven’t looked into the origins of these birds but perhaps a local fish-and-game club is releasing them.

The raising and releasing of chukars follows in the perhaps more familiar practice of raising and releasing ring-necked pheasants, a flashy bird with an iridescent green head, red face, and long pointed tail.

Although some people may not realize it, pheasants are hardly a Maine species. In fact, ring-necked pheasants are native to Asia, but have been introduced in many parts of the world including extensively in the U.S.

Here in Maine, fish and game clubs release them for fall hunts. Birds lucky enough to survive the hunt, however, have a hard time surviving through our winters, though small populations can persist and perhaps even successfully raise young over a few years.

Their loud kook-KORK calls, though welcomed by hunters, can be startling to anyone taking a peaceful walk through a grassland or agricultural area.

Though they’re “from away,” chukars and ring-necked pheasants are beautiful birds. When we see them, we can’t help but stop to admire them … though preferably not dead along the side of the road.

Dr. Jeff Wells is the senior scientist for the Boreal Songbird Initiative. During his time at the famed Cornell Lab of Ornithology and as the Audubon Society's national bird conservation director, Dr. Wells earned a reputation as one of the nation's leading bird experts and conservation biologists. Jeff's grandfather, the late John Chase, was a columnist for the Boothbay Register for many years. Allison Childs Wells, also formerly of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is a widely published natural history writer and a senior director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Together, they have been writing and teaching people about birds for decades. The Maine natives are authors of the highly acclaimed book, “Maine's Favorite Birds.”