Family Pheasants, Partridges, Turkeys, Grouse (Phasianidae)
Least Concern
Red-necked Francolin (Pternistis afer)
Taxonomy
French: Francolin à gorge rouge German: Rotkehlfrankolin Spanish: Francolín gorjirrojo
Other common names:
Red-necked Spurfowl,
Cranch's Francolin (cranchii)
Taxonomy:
Tetrao afer
Statius Müller
, 1776,Benguela, Angola
.
Subspecies and Distribution
P. a. cranchii
(Leach, 1818) – W Congo E to E Africa (around L Victoria), and S to N & E Angola, NE Zambia and N Malawi.
P. a. afer
(Statius Müller, 1776) – W Angola (N to S Huambo) and extreme NW Namibia.
P. a. harterti
Reichenow, 1909 – E DRCongo, Rwanda, Burundi (around N shore of L Tanganyika in Ruzizi Valley) and W Tanzania.
P. a. leucoparaeus
(G. A. Fischer & Reichenow, 1884) – SE Kenya (S from R Tana) to Tanzanian border.
P. a. loangwae
C. H. B. Grant & Mackworth-Praed, 1934 – E Zambia and Malawi.
P. a. melanogaster
Neumann, 1898 – E Tanzania to NE Zambia and N Mozambique (N of R Zambezi).
P. a. swynnertoni
W. L. Sclater, 1921 – E Zimbabwe and S Mozambique (S of R Zambezi).
P. a. castaneiventer
Gunning & Roberts, 1911 – South Africa from S & E Western Cape Province E to R Limpopo.
Introduced to Ascension I (S Atlantic).
Descriptive notes
c. 25–38 cm (much racial variation); male 480–1000 g, female 370–690 g. Distinctive scarlet throat and facial skin and red bill and legs separate present... read more
Voice
Calls from ground or elevated perch such as termite mound. Voice considered similar to that of ... read more
Habitat
Wide range of brushy habitats, varying according to locality, but generally avoids dense mature... read more
Food and feeding
Diet varies with season and locality: in DRCongo, mainly small tubers; in S Africa, mostly vegetable matter (tubers, roots and bulbs,... read more
Breeding
Mostly lays late in rains, with chicks emerging amongst dense cover of early dry season: lays cool dry season, Apr–Aug, in E South... read more
Movements
Sedentary. Home ranges in South Africa were 10–15·5 ha (two males) or 4–8 ha (... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Mace Lande: safe. Occurs in suitable habitat throughout c. 4,560,000 km². Generally common to abundant, with densities of 34... read more
Commonly thought to be close to P. leucoscepus, P. rufopictus and P. swainsonii. In one study this species appeared to be close to P. leucoscepus#R; in another, genetic evidence suggested that it and P. swainsonii are each other’s closest relatives, although the other two species (P. leucoscepus, P. rufopictus) were not sampled#R. Race swynnertoni of present species hybridizes with P. swainsonii near Harare, in NE Zimbabwe. Race cranchii (with leucoparaeus and harterti) has sometimes been separated as a distinct species, but there appear to be multiple areas where cranchii interbreeds with (or, through intermediate subspecies, grades into) the strongly black-and-white subspecies of present species, such that species status appears impractical. Race loangwae sometimes subsumed within melanogaster. Many other races have been described, but doubtfully valid: chio, palliditectus and cunenensis included in nominate afer; krebsi, notatus and lehmanni subsumed within castaneiventer; aylwinae, tertius and tornowi included in melanogaster; punctulatus, boehmi, mackenziei, benguellensis, intercedens, nyanzae and itigi synonymized with cranchii; and humboldtii included in swynnertoni. Eight subspecies currently recognized.