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Coqui Francolin - BirdForum Opus

Male, subspecies coqui
Photo © by GarethH
Roodeplaat Dam Nature Resrve, South Africa, June 2006
Campocolinus coqui

Peliperdix coqui

Identification

Male, either subspecies maharao or hubbardi
Photo © by nick scarle
Serengeti NP, Tanzania, November 2017

Length 20-28 cm (7¾-11 in), mass 191-314 g.
Bill black and legs yellow
Adult male:
The head, upper neck and throat are plain mustard yellow, and the lower neck, breast and mantle are barred black and white. The belly is barred black on cream. The back is brown with pale streaks and black blotches.
Adult female:
Has a pale eyebrow and throat and plain buffy breast.

Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa: Senegal and southern Ethiopia to north-eastern South Africa .

Taxonomy

This is a polytypic species[1] consisting of 4 subspecies.

Formerly placed in genus Francolinus.

Subspecies

Female, either subspecies maharao or hubbardi
Photo © by nick scarle
Serengeti NP, Tanzania, November 2017
  • C. c. spinetorum

Mali to Nigeria and Angola

  • C. c. maharao

Ethiopia to southern Uganda, Kenya and northern Tanzania

  • C. c. hubbardi

Western and southern Kenya to central Tanzania

  • C. c. coqui

DRC-Democratic Republic of the Congo to central and northwestern Tanzania, and south to northern Namibia, Botswana, and eastern South Africa (south to KwaZulu-Natal)

Habitat

Woodland and savanna; especially those with sandy soils.

Behaviour

A shy bird, it freezes when alarmed, thus making it less likely to be flushed from cover. It is found in pairs. A sedentary bird, it only flies under extreme pressure.

Diet

The diet includes seeds, grass or grain, and small insects.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Dickinson, EC, ed. 2003. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 3rd ed., with updates to December 2007 (Corrigenda 7). Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691117010
  3. Hockey, PAR, WRJ Dean, and PG Ryan, eds. 2005. Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. 7th ed. Cape Town: John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. ISBN 978-0620340533
  4. Sibley, CG and BL Monroe. 1996. Birds of the World, on diskette, Windows version 2.0. Charles G. Sibley, Santa Rosa, CA, USA.
  5. Sinclair, I and P Ryan. 2003. Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691118154

Recommended Citation

External Links

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.

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