Latham's Francolin Peliperdix lathami Scientific name definitions

c. 23–26 cm (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); one male 254 g, one female 284 g. Male  very dark; black  throat contrasts conspicuously with white spotting below, a combination unique in Peliperdix; recalls partially sympatric Nahan’s Partridge (Ptilopachus nahani), but lacks red facial skin, white throat and red legs, and latter species does not have rufous in upperparts  and pale face patch (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Female has blackish parts of plumage much browner and rather drabber, with pale brownish face patch and black-mottled upperparts (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Bare parts: bill black, irides brown and legs yellow (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Juvenile similar to adult female, but more rufous above, with whitish throat and whiter central underparts, with young females having more extensive white on the posterior underparts and white markings on breast form streaks rather than spots (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Male schubotzi has darker chestnut upperparts markings and whiter face patch than nominate lathami; that of female is more rufous, and has buffish (rather than white) underparts markings, with virtually unmarked reddish-brown breast (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Equatorial lowland forest belt; primary forest, up to 1400 m in Uganda and 900 m in Liberia (2 Gatter, W. (1997). Birds of Liberia. Pica Press, Aula-Verlag and Yale University Press, Robertsbridge, UK; Wiesbaden, Germany; and New Haven, CT, USA. Close ); occasionally also in secondary forest, sometimes far from primary forest, e.g. in Sierra Leone; uses gallery forest in Sudan, and also drier secondary forest near coast in Ghana (3 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2014). The Birds of Ghana: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press, Liège, Belgium. Close ).

Sedentary. Flies only when hard pressed, preferring to escape by running. Typical flight is short and fast.

Termites (Basidentitermes), ants (Psalidomyrmex) and other arthropods, snails, beetles and similar comprise 90% of diet; 10% fruits (especially of oil palm Elaeis guineensis) (4 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ), seeds and green leaves. Most food taken by scratching in forest leaf litter (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) and the species usually forages in pairs (3 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2014). The Birds of Ghana: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press, Liège, Belgium. Close ).

Calls from ground or trees and frequently vocal in night; advertising call a melodious dove-like “coo, coo, coo”, or frequently repeated “kwee, coo, coo”  , but also reported to give uniform, high-pitched whistles for long periods, flute-like calls and low clucking notes in contact (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Frequently calls around dusk, and sometimes all night (at least in Ghana) (3 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2014). The Birds of Ghana: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press, Liège, Belgium. Close ).

Lays in Feb and Dec in W Cameroon; Dec (dry season) in S Cameroon; Dec–Apr in DRCongo; mainly Jan–Mar and Aug–Nov in Uganda (5 Carswell, M., D. Pomeroy, J. Reynolds, and H. Tushabe (2005). The Bird Atlas of Uganda. British Ornithologists’ Club and British Ornithologists' Union, Oxford, UK. Close ); eggs recorded in Jan–Feb in Sierra Leone and Liberia (2 Gatter, W. (1997). Birds of Liberia. Pica Press, Aula-Verlag and Yale University Press, Robertsbridge, UK; Wiesbaden, Germany; and New Haven, CT, USA. Close ), and Dec–Feb in Ghana (3 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2014). The Birds of Ghana: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press, Liège, Belgium. Close ). Probably monogamous. Eggs  laid on dry leaves between buttress roots of forest tree, e.g. Piptadeniastrum africanum (Fabaceae) (4 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Usually two dark buff to rusty-brown eggs (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) (range 2–3), size 36–42·5 mm × 25–28 mm (4 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ); chicks have chestnut-brown down above, dark buff below. Hatching success 80% in one study; principal nest predators are snakes and viverids (4 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Mace Lande: Safe. Widespread, occurring in suitable habitat throughout an area of more than 2,600,000 km². Only information on abundance is that species is generally uncommon, but locally common; not uncommon in Liberia (2 Gatter, W. (1997). Birds of Liberia. Pica Press, Aula-Verlag and Yale University Press, Robertsbridge, UK; Wiesbaden, Germany; and New Haven, CT, USA. Close ), Sierra Leone, SW Ghana and N Angola (Cabinda) (6 Dean, W. R. J. (2000). The Birds of Angola: An Annotated Check-list. British Ornithologists’ Union Check-list 18. British Ornithologists’ Union, Tring, UK. Close ); not often recorded in Uganda until recently, but playback surveys suggest an overall population of 32,000 birds in the country, of which 14,000 perhaps occur at Budongo (5 Carswell, M., D. Pomeroy, J. Reynolds, and H. Tushabe (2005). The Bird Atlas of Uganda. British Ornithologists’ Club and British Ornithologists' Union, Oxford, UK. Close ). Threatened by forest loss and easily caught by termite-baited snares, and shot at grain-baited sites. Known from at least six protected areas in Uganda, namely Bugoma, Budongo, Kalinzu, Kibale, Semliki and Mabira Forest Reserves, ranging in size from 137 km² to 793 km²; these areas are generally effective in conserving the species. Also known from recently established Mbam and Djerem National Park, Cameroon (7 Bobo, K. S., E. Williams, N. D. Anye, M. F. Njie, R. C. Fotso, and M. Languy (2006). The birds of Mbam and Djerem National Park, Cameroon. Malimbus 28(2):90–106. Close ), and several reserves and national parks within Ghana (3 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2014). The Birds of Ghana: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press, Liège, Belgium. Close ). Whilst there appears to be no immediate cause for concern, there is an obvious need to establish status of species in more detail, and to monitor extent of threats.