Gray-striped Spurfowl Pternistis griseostriatus Scientific name definitions

c. 29–33 cm; male 265–430 g, female 213–350 g (1 Mills, M.S.L., Vaz Pinto, P. and Haber, S. (2012). Grey-striped Francolin Pternistis griseostriatus: specimens, distribution and morphometrics. Bull. Afr. Bird Club 19(2): 172–177. Close ). Head greyish brown, paler at sides, becoming more rufous-brown on forehead, neck-sides, hindneck, mantle, back and scapulars chestnut with grey feather fringes, buff streaking and sparse black vermiculations, rump and uppertail-coverts grey-brown finely barred black, tail chestnut also barred blackish, wings dull brown, with flight feathers mottled and barred brown and tawny on outer webs, while underparts are buff with chestnut shaft-streaks, becoming more intensely streaked rufous and grey on breast, with contrasting white chin and throat; bill orange-red with distal two-thirds of maxilla black, eyes brown, and legs and feet orange-red. Differs from other scaly francolins by rufous-chestnut streaky breast, mantle and upperwing-coverts. Spur lacking or rudimentary in female, but otherwise no differences from male. Juvenile has black markings all over, with richer rufous-cinnamon upperparts (spotted black) and paler underparts (belly whiter) less strongly streaked chestnut.

W Angola: from Bengo and Cuanza Norte S to S Benguela and extreme NW Huíla.

Gallery forest and secondary forest in dense understorey, and dense thickets, but may also visit adjacent cultivation and abandoned cotton fields; occurs from 70 m up to 2150 m, but mainly between c. 500 m and 1150 m (1 Mills, M.S.L., Vaz Pinto, P. and Haber, S. (2012). Grey-striped Francolin Pternistis griseostriatus: specimens, distribution and morphometrics. Bull. Afr. Bird Club 19(2): 172–177. Close ). Roosts in trees.

Poorly known until very recently. Territorial call ‘a very loud and crescendo blow “ff fffffffffff” repeated two or three times’. Advertisement call a duet, with one bird giving a raspy upward-inflected “shwwii” followed closely by a raucous “ke-ke-ke-ke” by the second bird. In alarm gives a loud, sharp “ke” repeated at intervals of c. 1 second. Those populations in areas with high human populations generally call only after dusk and before dawn, but elsewhere birds call well into the morning (4 Mills, M. S. L. (2009). Vocalisations of Angolan birds: new descriptions and other notes. Bulletin of the African Bird Club 16(2):151–167. Close ).

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Mace Lande: insufficient information. Previously considered Near Threatened. Population most recently estimated at 7500–35,000 mature individuals, and is thought to be decreasing, within an overall range of 85,100 km². Present in Kissama National Park (1 Mills, M.S.L., Vaz Pinto, P. and Haber, S. (2012). Grey-striped Francolin Pternistis griseostriatus: specimens, distribution and morphometrics. Bull. Afr. Bird Club 19(2): 172–177. Close ); occurs in Angola Endemic Bird Area. Status not well known and civil strife was, until recently, widespread throughout known range, but since this ended and with renewed ornithological activity, the species has proven to be more continuously distributed (over a much wider elevational range) than previously thought (1 Mills, M.S.L., Vaz Pinto, P. and Haber, S. (2012). Grey-striped Francolin Pternistis griseostriatus: specimens, distribution and morphometrics. Bull. Afr. Bird Club 19(2): 172–177. Close ). No threats identified, due to general lack of data; forest destruction may be a problem. Extensive survey urgently needed to assess status and recommend future actions.