Red-necked spurfowl

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.

Red-necked spurfowl
P. a. cranchii in Queen
Elizabeth NP, Uganda
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Genus: Pternistis
Species:
P. afer
Binomial name
Pternistis afer
(Müller, PLS, 1776)
Geographic distribution shown in green
Synonyms
  • Francolinus afer
  • Tetrao afer

Taxonomy

The red-necked spurfowl was described in 1776 by the German zoologist Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller and given the binomial name Tetrao afer.[2] The type locality was later designated as Benguela in western Angola.[3][4] The specific epithet afer is the Latin word for "African".[5] The species is now placed in the genus Pternistis that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832.[6][7] A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2019 found that the red-necked spurfowl is sister to the grey-breasted spurfowl.[8]

Although many subspecies have been described only four are now recognised:[7]

  • 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[lower-alpha 1]
  • 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 25–38 cm (9.8–15.0 in) in length, with significant size differences between the subspecies.[9] 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.[1]

  • P. a. leucoparaeus in Masai Mara
  • P. a. afer (Statius Müller, 1776)
    in Namibia
  • immature P. a. cranchii (Leach, 1818)
    in Uganda
  • P. a. harterti
    Reichenow, 1909
  • P. a. loangwae
    C.H.B.Grant & Mackworth-Praed, 1934
  • P. a. swynnertoni
    Sclater, 1921
  • P. a. castaneiventer
    Gunning & Roberts, 1911
  • P. a. notatus
    Roberts, 1924

Notes
  1. Mandiwana-Neudani et al (2019) treat P. a. cranchii as a separate species, Cranch's spurfowl.[8]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2018). "Red-necked Francolin". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  2. Statius Müller, Philipp Ludwig (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 (in German). Nürnberg: Gabriel Nicolaus Raspe. p. 129.
  3. Sclater, William Lutley (1920). "Note on the red-necked francolin". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 41: 133–135.
  4. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 85.
  5. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. Wagler, Johann Georg (1832). "Neue Sippen und Gattungen der Säugthiere und Vögel". Isis von Oken (in German and Latin). 1832. cols 1218–1235 [1229].
  7. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020). "Pheasants, partridges, francolins". IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  8. 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. doi:10.2989/00306525.2019.1584925. S2CID 195417777.
  9. McGowan, P.J.K.; Kirwan, G.M. (2019). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Red-necked Francolin (Pternistis afer)". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  • Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse by Madge and McGowan, ISBN 0-7136-3966-0
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