Abstract:Abstract: Buff-throated partridge Tetraophasis szechenyii is an animal unique to China and is listed as the CategoryⅠspecies of nationally protected animals of China. Studying the roosting habitat of buff-throated partridge during the course of winter can help us to understand it’s survival strategies in severe environment, and also can provide very important suggestions in work about conservations. Between September 2006 and April 2007, we carried out field investigation by using pedestrian tracking and radio tracking in Pamuling, Yajiang County, Ganzi autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province, China. We measured 16 environmental factors (Table 1- Habitat factors and explanations). We used Chi-square tests to examine selection differences in tree species of Abies squamata and Larix potaninii Batalin var. macrocarpa, and pared sample t-tests to examine habitat differences between roosting and random quadrats. The results showed that: (1) Buff-throated partridges had no significant difference in selecting two tree species of Abies squamata and Larix potaninii Batalin var. macrocarpa (χ2 = 0.745 , df = 1 , P = 0.388); (2) Roosting trees selected, on average, were 25.8 ± 1.3 cm in diameter at breast height, where buff-throated partridges perched on branches with 6.3 ± 0.3 m in height and 3.3 ± 0.1 cm in diameter at the base; (3) Compared to random quadrats, roosting habitats were closer to the nearest forest edge, with larger trees, opener understory, and more logs, where roosting trees relatively large and farther to other trees with larger diameter at breast height (Table 2-Comparing results on winter habitat factors between roosting and random quadrats of buff-throated partridges). Finally, we used Logistic regressions to find key factors in determining roosting habitat selection. The results revealed that the lowest branch of roosting trees was a primary factor in determining roosting habitat selection, with the secondary factors being number of logs, average diameter at breast height of trees, and the distance to the nearest forest edge (Table 3-Factors selected from Logistic regression and its significance). The model we built had the correct prediction rate of 80.9%. Based on the results, we suggest winter roosting habitat selection by buff-throated partridge as a result of safety, energy saving and site-shifting.