The red-necked spurfowl or red-necked francolin (''Pternistis afer''), is a

gamebird Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are often ...

in the pheasant family

Phasianidae The Phasianidae are a family (biology), family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, Turkey bird, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular Game (hunti ...

that is a resident species in southern Africa.

Taxonomy

The red-necked spurfowl was described in 1776 by the German zoologist

Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller (25 April 1725 – 5 January 1776) was a German zoologist. Statius Müller was born in Esens, and was a professor of natural science at Erlangen. Between 1773 and 1776, he published a German translation of Linnaeu ...

and given the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Tetrao afer''. The type locality was later designated as

Benguela Benguela (; Umbundu: Luombaka) is a city in western Angola, capital of Benguela Province. Benguela is one of Angola's most populous cities with a population of 555,124 in the city and 561,775 in the municipality, at the 2014 census. History Por ...

in western Angola. The specific epithet ''afer'' is the Latin word for "African". The species is now placed in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Pternistis ''Pternistis'' is a genus of galliform birds formerly classified in the spurfowl group of the partridge subfamily of the pheasant family. They are described as "partridge-francolins" in literature establishing their phylogenetic placement out ...

'' that was introduced by the German naturalist

Johann Georg Wagler Johann Georg Wagler (28 March 1800 – 23 August 1832) was a German herpetologist and ornithologist. Wagler was assistant to Johann Baptist von Spix, and gave lectures in zoology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich after it was moved ...

in 1832. A

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2019 found that the red-necked spurfowl is

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

to the

grey-breasted spurfowl The grey-breasted spurfowl or grey-breasted francolin (''Pternistis rufopictus'') is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is found only in Tanzania. The grey-breasted spurfowl was described by the German ornithologist Anton Reichen ...

. Although many

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

have been described only four are now recognised: * ''P. a. cranchii'' (

Leach Leach may refer to: * Leach (surname) * Leach, Oklahoma, an unincorporated community, United States * Leach, Tennessee, an unincorporated community, United States * Leach Highway, Western Australia * Leach orchid * Leach phenotype, a mutation in ...

, 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 * ''P. a. afer'' ( Müller, PLS, 1776) — west Angola, northwest Namibia * ''P. a. castaneiventer'' Gunning & 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 Red-necked Francolin (Francolinus afer) (20529615134), crop.jpg, ''P. a. cranchii''
(Leach, 1818)
in western Kenya Pternistis afer subsp afer, Kunene River Lodge, Birding Weto, a.jpg, ''P. a. afer''
(Statius Müller, 1776)
in northern Namibia Red-necked Spurfowl 2015 01 17 1406, crop.jpg, ''P. a. castaneiventer''
Gunning & Roberts, 1911
in South Africa Red-necked Spurfowl - Pternistis afer, Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique (44137857440), crop.jpg, ''P. a. humboldtii''
(Peters, W, 1854)
in Mozambique

Description

The red-necked spurfowl is in length, with significant size differences between the subspecies. 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 Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and down the east coast to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

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 The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

of Threatened Species.

Notes

References

* ''Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse'' by Madge and McGowan,

External links

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the red-necked spurfowl
* (Red-necked spurfowl = ) Red-necked francolin
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds

BirdLife Species Factsheet

IUCN Red List
{{Taxonbar, from=Q27074582

red-necked spurfowl 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. Taxonomy The red-necked spurfowl was described in 1776 by the German zoologist ...

Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa