Crested Francolin - BirdForum Opus

Subspecies sephaena
Photo © by Reader
Near to Berg En Dal, Kruger National Park, South Africa, November 2009

Ortygornis sephaena

Dendroperdix sephaena

Identification

Subspecies grantii
Photo © by mikemik
Ngorongoro, Tanzania

30–35 cm (11¾-13¾ in)

• Dark brown crown
• Chestnut blotching on neck and breast
• Flecked white and brown
• Broad white supercilium
• Black bill
• Red legs

Distribution

Southern Sudan, Ethiopia, western Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania (excluding western regions), Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, southern Angola, northern Namibia northern and eastern Botswana and north-eastern South Africa.

Taxonomy

Formerly placed in the genus Francolinus and Dendroperdix.

Subspecies

Francolinus sephaena has five subspecies:^[1]

• O. s. grantii

• Ethiopia to southern Sudan, Uganda and north-central Tanzania

• O. s. spilogaster

• Eastern Ethiopia to Somalia and north-eastern Kenya

• O. s. rovuma

• Coastal Kenya and Tanzania to northern Mozambique

• O. s. sephaena

• Eastern Zimbabwe to south-eastern Botswana and north-eastern South Africa

• O. s. zambesiae

• West-central Mozambique to north-western Namibia and southern Angola

Habitat

Thicket, woodland and densely wooded savanna. Favours areas with sparse ground cover.

Behaviour

Diet

Their main diet consists of insects (particularly termites) and their larvae, sedge bulbs and seeds.

Vocalisation

These are highly vocal birds which can be heard at intervals throughout the day as well as on bright moonlit nights.

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

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Crested Francolin. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Crested_Francolin

External Links

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