- Scleroptila shelleyi
Francolinus shelleyi
Identification
Length 28-31 cm. The throat is white with a black edge. The breast and flanks have chestnut stripes, and the belly is barred black and white. In flight, differs from the similar Red-winged Francolin in that only the primaries are reddish.
Distribution
Africa: Uganda (possibly no more?), Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, southern Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa and eSwatini. Populations are not contiguous.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Whyte's Francolin was formerly included here.
Habitat
Grassland with scattered acacia, savanna and open woodland - usually rocky areas.
Behaviour
It is a shy bird. The diet includes insects, small molluscs, seeds, bulbs and roots.
Vocalisation
A repeated til-it, til-leoo or I'll-drink yer-beer, generally only heard in early morning.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2023. IOC World Bird List (v 13.1)_red. Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.13.1. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- 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
- Sibley, CG and BL Monroe. 1996. Birds of the World, on diskette, Windows version 2.0. Charles G. Sibley, Santa Rosa, CA, USA.
- Sinclair, I and P Ryan. 2003. Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691118154
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Shelley's Francolin. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 6 October 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Shelley%27s_Francolin
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
