Red-necked Francolin
Encyclopedia
The Red-necked Spurfowl or Red-necked Francolin (Pternistis afer), is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae
of the order Galliformes
, gallinaceous birds.
The Red-necked Spurfowl breeds across the central belt of Africa
and down the east coast to Tanzania
.
It is 25–38 cm in length, with a significant size difference between the subspecies, of which there are seven. It is a generally dark francolin
, brown above and black-streaked grey or white underparts. The bill, bare facial skin, neck and legs are bright red.
The Red-necked Spurfowl is a wary species, keeping to deep cover, although it sometimes feeds in open scrub or cultivation if disturbance is limited and there are thickets nearby. The nest is a bare scrape, and three to nine eggs are laid.
Widespread and common throughout its large range, the Red-necked Spurfowl is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species.
Phasianidae
The Phasianidae is a family of birds which consists of the pheasants and partridges, including the junglefowl , Old World Quail, francolins, monals and peafowl. The family is a large one, and is occasionally broken up into two subfamilies, the Phasianinae, and the Perdicinae...
of the order Galliformes
Galliformes
Galliformes are an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding domestic or game bird, containing turkey, grouse, chicken, New and Old World Quail, ptarmigan, partridge, pheasant, and the Cracidae. Common names are gamefowl or gamebirds, landfowl, gallinaceous birds or galliforms...
, gallinaceous birds.
The Red-necked Spurfowl breeds across the central belt of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and down the east coast to Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
.
It is 25–38 cm in length, with a significant size difference between the subspecies, of which there are seven. It is a generally dark francolin
Francolin
Francolins are birds that traditionally have been placed in the genus Francolinus, but now commonly are divided into multiple genera , although some of the major taxonomic listing sources have yet to divide them. They are members of the pheasant family, Phasianidae...
, brown above and black-streaked grey or white underparts. The bill, bare facial skin, neck and legs are bright red.
The Red-necked Spurfowl is a wary species, keeping to deep cover, although it sometimes feeds in open scrub or cultivation if disturbance is limited and there are thickets nearby. The nest is a bare scrape, and three to nine eggs are laid.
Widespread and common throughout its large range, the Red-necked Spurfowl is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
of Threatened Species.