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.
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[a]
P. a. afer (
Müller, PLS, 1776) — west Angola, northwest Namibia
P. a. castaneiventerGunning &
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
P. a. cranchii (Leach, 1818) in western Kenya
P. a. afer (Statius Müller, 1776) in northern Namibia
P. a. castaneiventer Gunning & Roberts, 1911 in South Africa
P. a. humboldtii (Peters, W, 1854) in Mozambique
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]
Notes
^Mandiwana-Neudani et al (2019) treat P. a. cranchii as a separate species, Cranch's spurfowl.[8]