Alternative name: Red-necked Spurfowl
- Pternistis afer
Identification
25–38cm (9¾-15 in)
- Dark, brown upperparts
- Black-streaked whitish underparts
- Scarlet bill, bare facial skin, throat, neck and legs
Distribution
Central belt of Africa (Angola and Congo to Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique) and down the east coast to southern South Africa.
Taxonomy
Formerly placed in genus Francolinus.
Subspecies
There are 7 subspecies[1]:
- P. a. cranchii:
- P. a. harterti:
- North shore of Lake Tanganyika (eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, northwestern Tanzania)
- P. a. leucoparaeus:
- Coastal Kenya (Tana River to Tanzania border)
- P. a. melanogaster:
- Mozambique north of Zambezi River to eastern Tanzania and eastern Zambia
- P. a. swynnertoni:
- Interior Mozambique south of Zambezi River to south-eastern Zimbabwe
- P. a. afer:
- P. a. castaneiventer:
- South Africa (southern and eastern Cape Province)
Habitat
Wooded grassland, savanna, bush, open scrub and thickets.
Behaviour
Breeding
The nest is a bare scrape. Their clutch contains 3-9 eggs.
Diet
Their diet consists of seeds, tubers, bulbs, roots, berries and grass stalks although it will also eat insects and their larvae.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved March 2019)
- BF Member observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Red-necked Francolin. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Red-necked_Francolin
