- Ortygornis pondicerianus
Francolinus pondicerianus
Identification
30–35 cm (11¾-13¾ in)
- Greyish-brown overall plumage with white barring
Distribution
Middle East and Asia
Middle East: Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Iran
Asia Nepal
South Asia: Pakistan, India, Western Himalayas and Sri Lanka.
Introdoced to many countries, including Hawaii.
Taxonomy
This is a polytypic species[1] consisting of 3 subspecies.
Subspecies
- O. p. mecranensis:
- O. p. interpositus:
- North-western India and Pakistan
- O. p. pondicerianus:
- Southern India and Sri Lanka
Habitat
Grassland, dry deciduous forest, thorn scrub, edges of cultivation, semi desert, open agricultural fields and wetlands; often near habitations.
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet consists of weed and cereal seeds. Also berries and shoots of grass and crops.
Vocalisation
Recording by Alok Tewari
Dist. Gurgaon, Haryana, India, August-2016
Call given just at Sunset by one individual, Ssp. interpositus
References
- 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/
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved May 2015)
- BF Member observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Grey Francolin. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Grey_Francolin
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1