BIRDS of THE WORLD - An Online Bird Book
SEARCH 

GALLIFORMES

Galliformes are heavy-bodied ground-feeding domestic or game birds. Most are plump-bodied with thick necks and moderately long legs, and have rounded and rather short wings. They do not fly well if at all, but walk and run instead for transportation. These birds vary greatly in size from 12-120 cm. Many adult males have one to several sharp horny spurs on the back of each leg, which they use for fighting. They can be found worldwide and in a variety of habitats, including forests, deserts, and meadows. Male courtship behavior includes elaborate visual displays of plumage. Gallinaceous birds feed on a variety of plant and animal material, which may include fruits, seeds, leaves, shoots, flowers, tubers, roots, insects, snails, worms, lizards, snakes, small rodents, and eggs.

Some of the Gallifrom families:
Cracidae: chachalac, curassow, guan.  Numididae : Guineafowl   Odontophoridae : New World Quail
Phasianidae: francolin, grouse, partridge, pheasant, Old World quail.



Francolins

Order Galliformes    Family Phasianidae

Francolins, often called spurfows, are members of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. Most species are restricted to Africa, but some occur in Asia. Francolins are terrestrial (though not flightless) birds feed on insects, vegetable matter and seeds. Most of the members have a hooked upper beak, tails with fourteen feathers and in many of them the male has tarsal spurs.


Genus Dendroperdix - 1 species

Francolin,_Crested Dendroperdix sephaena also  Francolinus sephaena  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - specimen in Nairobi National Museum, Kenya  2, 3, 4, 5) Dick Daniels - Kruger National Park, South Africa   6) Sandy Cole - South Africa




Genus Francolinus
Found in: Asia
These are termed the "true" francolins.

Francolin,_Black   Francolinus francolinus  Found: Asia, Hawaii (introduced)
Similar to: Painted Francolin. Male Black Francolin has white patch on side of face; male Painted Francolin does not. Female Black Francolin has rufous hind collar; female Painted Francolin does not.
Image by: 1) Swarti Sani   2) Tarique Sani - India  3) Kosy Koshy - India   4) USDA NRCS 
1) Female  2, 3, 4) Male


Francolin, Chinese  Francolinus pintadeanus  Found: Asia
The Chinese Francolin is It is found in Cambodia, southeast China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Image by: 1) Martin_Hale - Hong Kong    Hume and Marshall 
1) Female    2) Male


Francolin,_Gray Francolinus pondicerianus   Found: Asia, introduced to Hawaii
The Grey Francolin has barred upperparts; lighter barred lowerparts; light supercilium; pale face; pale throat with thin black border. Subspecies in southern peninsula of India has a darker rufous throat.
Found in plains and drier regions of south Asia.
Similar to: Gray Partridge. Gray Francolin has horizontally striped neck and breast; Gray Partridge has solid gray breast.
Similar to: Painted Francolin. Painted Francolin has white-spotted underparts; Grey Francolin has lightly barred underparts.
Image by: 1) DIck Daniels - Hawaii  2) Dick - Hawaii   3) CV_Vick - Maui  4) Dibyendu_Ash - India  5) Koshy_Koshy



Francolin,_Painted  Francolinus pictus  Found: Indian Subcontinent
The Painted Francolin has white-spotted underparts; bright rufous face, throat; orange-yellow to red legs.
Similar to: Black Francolin. Male Black Francolin has white patch on side of face; male Painted Francolin does not. Female Black Francolin has rufous hind collar; female Painted Francolin does not.
Similar to: Grey Francolin. Painted Francolin has white-spotted underparts; Grey Francolin has lightly barred underparts.
Image by: Hume and Marshall  2)) Ash Lin   3) Thomas Hardwicke   4) Shantanu_Kuveskar
1) Female left  Male right


Francolin,_Swamp  Francolinus gularis  Found: north India, Nepal, Bangladesh
The Swamp Francolin has brown upperparts barred with buff; chestnut outer tail feathers; red-rust throat; brown underparts with white steaks; blackish bill; dull red feet. It is found in or near wet environments.
Image by: 1) Hume and Marshall  2) Hardewick  3) AZ3



Genus Galloperdix
These species are found on the Indian subcontinent. Even though they are called spurfowls, they are not closely related to francolins.

Spurfowl,_Red   Galloperdix spadicea  Found: India
The Red Spurfowl has brown upperparts; grayish face, neck; rufous underparts.
Image by: 1) Subramanya   2) Rahul_Alvares


Spurfowl,_Painted   Galloperdix lunulata  Found: Indian subcontinent
The male Painted Spurfowl has chestnut mantle, rump, wing coverts; black tail. Female lacks the male's white spotting.
Image by: 1) Subramanya C K  2) Shyamal - India  3) Nagesh_kamath  4) Allan Hopkins


Spurfowl,_Sri_Lanka   Galloperdix bicalcarata  Found: Sri Lanka
The male Sri Lanka Spurfowl has red legs, bare facial skin; black and white mantle, head, breast. Female has chestnut underparts; plain brown back, wings.
Image by: 1) Khoo  2) Shanaka_Aravinda



Genus Peliperdix
Found in: Africa

Francolin,_Coqui  Peliperdix coqui  Found: Africa
Image by:  1) Derek Keats 2, 3) Nik_Borrow  4) DIck Daniels - Tanzania
1, 2) Female  3, 4) Male


Francolin,_Latham's   Peliperdix lathami   Found; Africa
Image by: 1) Daderot   2) gjohns2
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dkeats/14677941135

Francolin,_Schlegel's   Peliperdix schlegelii  Found: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudan
Image by: 1) Pinebird


Francolin,_White-throated  Peliperdix albogularis  Found: Africa
The White-throated Francolin is found in tropical and sub-tropical grasslands, savannas, burned lands and shrublands. It feed on seeds and insects.
Prawn by: 1) Joseph Smit   2) Nik_Borrow



Genus Pternistis
Found in: Africa
They are considered "partridge-francolins"versus the true francolins of genus Francolinus. They are closely related to Bush-quail and Coturnix quail. They procure most of their food by digging. Partridge-francolins subsist almost entirely on roots, beans of leguminous shrubs and trees, tubers, seed, feasting opportunistically on termites, ants, locusts, flowers and fruit.

Francolin,_Ahanta  Pternistis ahantensis  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Nik_Borrow - Ghana


Francolin,_Cameroon  Pternistis camerunensis  Found: Cameroon
The male Cameroon Francolin has brown upperparts; grayish underparts; red bill. Female has barred upperparts; mottled brown underparts.
Image by: 1) hbw.com


Francolin,_Cape   Pternistis capensis  Found: South Africa
The Cape Francolin has finely vermiculated gray and white plumage; red legs. It is unique in its range.
Image by: 1) Alastair Pott   2) Alan Manson  3) Craig Adam - South Africa  4) Cristiano Crolle - Capetown, South Africa 5) Lip Kee - Capetown



Francolin,_Chestnut-naped  Pternistis castaneicollis  Found: Ethiopia, Somalia, and possibly Kenya
Image by: 1) Nik_Borrow - Ethiopia  2) Allan_Drewitt  3, 4) Sergey_Yeliseev


Francolin,_Clapperton's  Pternistis clappertoni  Found: Africa
Image by:  1) Michael_Jefferies - Uganda  2)  Nik_Borrow - Cameroon 


Francolin,_Djibouti  Pternistis ochropectus  Found: Djibouti, a nation in the Horn of Africa.
The Djibouti Francolin has overall grayish-brown plumage with white stripes and streaks on its underparts which become finer towards the upperparts.
Image by: 1) Shyamal  2) Sam_Cartwright


Francolin,_Double-spurred  Pternistis bicalcaratus  Found; Morocco, tropical west Africa
The Double-spurred Francolin has mainly brown plumage; streaked and spotted darker upperparts;  chestnut crown, neck collar; pale cream face flecked with dark brown; white supercilium; white cheek patches; brown wings. Male usually has two spurs on each leg, Female is similar; usually lacks spurs,
Image by: 1, 2) Ron_Knight - Cameroon  3) JV Verde - Gambia
1) Female 2, 3) Male


Francolin,_Erckel's Pternistis erckelii Found: Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Sudan, Hawaii (introduced)
Image by: 1, 2, 3, 4) Dick Daniels - Kauai, Hawaii


Francolin,_Gray-breasted  Pternistis rufopictus  Found: Tanzania
Image by:   1, 4) David Bygott - Serengeti  2) Yathin Krishnappa 3) D_Gordan_Robertson   5) Nik_Borrow - Tanzania



Francolin,_Gray-striped  Pternistis griseostriatus  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) John Keulemanns


Francolin,_Handsome  Pternistis nobilis  Found: Burundi, DR Congo, Rwanda, Uganda
The Handsome Francolin has gray head, nape; reddish brown on wings; rufous gray underparts.
Image by: 1) Nik_Borrow


Francolin,_Hartlaub's  Pternistis hartlaubi    Found: Namibia, Angola
The Hartlaub's Francolin has a large bill compared to other Francolins.  The male has mottled brown/buff upperparts; white underparts streaked with brown; white superciliums that join in front; black border below the supercilium. Female has brown crown tinged with rufous; crimson unstreaked underparts; gray-brown head; orange-brown supercilium.
Image by:  1, 2) Jerry_Oldenettel 3) Ron Knight
1, 2) Lair 2, 3) Male


Francolin,_Harwood's  Pternistis harwoodi  Found: Ethiopia
The Harwood's Francolin has gray-brown plumage; red bare skin around eyes.
Image by: 1) Nik_Borrow - Ethiopia


Francolin,_Heuglin's  Pternistis icterorhynchus  Found: Central African Republic, DR Congo, South Sudan, Uganda
Image by: 1) Bernard_Dupont - Uganda  2) Nik_Borrow - Uganda


Francolin,_Hildebrandt's  Pternistis hildebrandti Found: Africa
Image by:  1, 4) Joseph Mochoge - Gilgil, Kenya  2, 5) Nik_Borrow - Tanzania   3) Carol Foil - Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya
1, 2) Female  3 - 5) Male



Francolin,_Jackson's  Pternistis jacksoni  Found: Kenya, Uganda
Image by: 1) Steve Garvie - Kenya  2) Dave Curtis - Kenya  3) Kevin O'Grady


Francolin,_Natal   Pternistis natalensis  Found: Africa
The Natal Francolin is found in Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Image by: 1, 2) Dick Daniels - Kruger National Park, South Africa  3) Arno Meintjes  4) Frans_Vandewalle - South Africa


Francolin,_Red-billed  Pternistis adspersus Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Ian White   2) Cristiano Crolle - Kalahari desert Namibia   3) Yathin sk  4) Derek_Keats - Botswana


Francolin,_Red-necked Pternistis afer   Found: Africa
The Red-necked Fracolin has 7 subspecies. In general it has brown upperparts; black-streaked gray or white underparts; bright red bill, legs, facial skin, throat.
Image by: 1) David Bygott - Tanzania  2) Graham Laurence  3) Dick Daniels - Tanzania   4)  Charles_J_Sharp - Uganda  5, 6, 7) Nik_Borrow - Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi



Francolin,_Scaly  Pternistis squamatus  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) John Kuelemans  2) Francesco_Veronesi - Kenya


Francolin,_Swainson's  Pternistis swainsonii  Found: Africa
Image by:  1, 2) Arno Meintjes  3) Chris Eason - South Africa  4, 5 Bernard_Dupont - South Africa



Francolin,_Swierstra's  Pternistis swierstrai  Found: Angola
Image by: 1) jan_veenstra


Francolin,_Yellow-necked  Pternistis leucoscepus  Found: Africa
Image by:  1) Carol Foil -  Kenya   2) Gary Stolz - Kenya  3) Lip Kee Yap   4) Dick Daniels - San Diego Zoo   5) Sandy Cole - San Diego Zoo  6) Dick Daniels - Tanzania   7) Nik_Borrow - Tanzania




Genus Scleroptila
Found in: Africa

Francolin,_Finsch's  Scleroptila finschi  Found: Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon
Image by: 1) hbw.com


Francolin,_Gray-winged    Scleroptila afra  Found: South Africa, Lesotho
Image by:  1) Francesco_Veronesi - South Africa  2) Alan Manson - Lesotho  3) Mick Richardson and Sarah Winch - South Africa 


Francolin,_Moorland  Scleroptila psilolaema  Found: highlands of Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda
The Moorland Francolin of Ethiopia has black spots on a white neck. The subspecies in Kenya and Uganda have birghter rufous plumage and lack black spots on throat.
Image by: 1, 2) Brendan_Ryan - Ethiopia  3) Nik_Borrow - Ethiopia


Francolin,_Orange_River  Scleroptila gutturalis  Found: Africa
In its northern range, the neck-line does not reach the eye and the belly is whitish. In the southern range, the neck-line reaches the eye and the belly is buff.
Image by: 1) Nik_Borrow  2) Ian White - Botswana   3) Derek_Keats - Botswana


Francolin,_Red-winged  Scleroptila levaillantii  Found: Africa
Image:   1) John Keulemans   2) Alan Manson - South Africa  3) Francesco_Veronesi


Francolin,_Ring-necked    Scleroptila streptophora  Found: Africa
The Ring-necked Francolin is found in Burundi, Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Image by: 1) John Keulemans


Francolin,_Shelley's  Scleroptila shelleyi   Found: Africa
Image by:  1) Alan Manson - South Africa 2) Darren Bellerby - Kenya 





Back to Top