Red-necked spurfowl explained
The red-necked spurfowl or red-necked francolin (Pternistis afer), is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae that is a resident species in southern Africa.
Taxonomy
The red-necked spurfowl was described in 1776 by the German zoologist Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller and given the binomial name Tetrao afer.[1] The type locality was later designated as Benguela in western Angola.[2] [3] The specific epithet afer is the Latin word for "African".[4] The species is now placed in the genus Pternistis that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832.[5] [6] A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2019 found that the red-necked spurfowl is sister to the grey-breasted spurfowl.[7]
Although many subspecies have been described only four are now recognised:[6]
- P. a. cranchii (Leach, 1818) — north Gabon and south Congo Republic though south, east Democratic Republic of the Congo to central Angola and west Zambia to central Tanzania, west Kenya and Uganda
- P. a. afer (Müller, PLS, 1776) — west Angola, northwest Namibia
- P. a. castaneiventer Gunning & Roberts, 1911 — south and east South Africa
- P. a. humboldtii (Peters, W, 1854) — southeast Kenya and north and east Tanzania to Mozambique, northeast Zambia and east Zimbabwe
Description
The red-necked spurfowl is in length, with significant size differences between the subspecies.[8] It is a generally dark spurfowl, brown above and black-streaked grey or white underparts. The bill, bare facial skin, neck and legs are bright red.
Distribution and habitat
The red-necked spurfowl breeds across the central belt of Africa and down the east coast to South Africa.
Behaviour and ecology
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.
Status
Widespread and common throughout its large range, the red-necked spurfowl is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
References
- Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse by Madge and McGowan,
External links
Notes and References
- Book: Statius Müller, Philipp Ludwig . Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller . 1776 . Des Ritters Carl von Linné Königlich Schwedischen Lelbarztes uc. uc. vollständigen Natursystems Supplements und Register-Band über alle sechs Theile oder Classen des Thierreichs mit einer ausführlichen Erklärung ausgefertiget . Nürnberg . Gabriel Nicolaus Raspe . German . 129 .
- Sclater . William Lutley . William Lutley Sclater . 1920 . Note on the red-necked francolin . Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club . 41 . 133–135 .
- Book: Peters . James Lee . James L. Peters . 1934 . Check-list of Birds of the World . 2 . Harvard University Press . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 85 .
- Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . limited . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 35 .
- Wagler . Johann Georg . Johann Georg Wagler . 1832 . Neue Sippen und Gattungen der Säugthiere und Vögel . Isis von Oken . 1832 . cols 1218–1235 [1229] . German, Latin .
- Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . 2020 . Pheasants, partridges, francolins . IOC World Bird List Version 10.1 . International Ornithologists' Union . 11 February 2020 .
- Mandiwana-Neudani . T.G. . Little . R.M. . Crowe . T.M. . Bowie . R.C.K. . 2019 . Taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of African spurfowls Galliformes, Phasianidae, Phasianinae, Coturnicini: Pternistis spp. . Ostrich . 90 . 2 . 145–172 . 10.2989/00306525.2019.1584925 . 2019Ostri..90..145M . 195417777 .
- McGowan. P.J.K.. Kirwan. G.M.. 2020. Red-necked Francolin (Pternistis afer). del Hoyo. J.. Elliott. A.. Sargatal. J.. Christie. D.A.. de Juana. E.. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. 10.2173/bow.renfra1.01 . 241255267 . 16 February 2020. subscription.
