Yellow-necked Francolin

The yellow-necked spurfowl or yellow-necked francolin (''Pternistis leucoscepus'') is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is found in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. This species is named for the yellow patch found on its neck. Males of this species have been noted to have spurs on the back of their legs.

Taxonomy

The yellow-necked spurfowl was described in 1867 by the English ornithologist George Robert Gray and given the binomial name ''Francolinus leucoscepus''. The type locality is Ethiopia. The specific epithet ''leucoscepus'' combines the Ancient Greek ''leukos'' meaning "white" and ''skepas'' meaning "covering" or "mantle". The species is now placed in the genus ''Pternistis'' that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832.

Two subspecies are recognised:
* ''P. l. leucoscepus'' ( Gray, GR, 1867) — Eritrea and adjacent north Ethiopia
* ''P. l. infuscatus'' Cabanis, 1868 — north Somalia and Djibouti south through Ethiopia, east South Sudan, south Somalia, northeast Uganda, Kenya and north central Tanzania

Behavior

It has been noted that this bird is most active at dawn and dusk.Spurfowl at Kenya Birds
/ref> The bird is also noted to be very adaptable, it can continue to live in land after agriculture begins, it only leaves lands when heavy human occupation begins.BirdLife Factsheet
/ref>

Call

The call of a yellow-necked spurfowl is a series of scratchy descending upslurs, up to seven in a series.Birds of East Africa:Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi. By:Terry Stevenson and John Fanshawe Male yellow-necked spurfowl often call while standing on top of mounds of earth or rock, often termite mounds.

Conservation Status

The yellow-necked spurfowl is not in the threshold for vulnerable species despite the fact that its population (though unquantified) is thought to be in decline (though not at a fast rate). The primary threat to the species is over-hunting.

Gallery

File:Yellow-necked Spurfowl (Francolinus leucoscepus).jpg, In Tsavo East National Park, Kenya, Africa
File:Francolinus leucoscepus1.jpg, From US Fish and Wildlife Service image library
File:Francolinus leucoscepus -Denver Zoo, Colorado, USA-8a.jpg, At Denver Zoo, USA
File:PternistesSmit.jpg, Illustration by Joseph Smit, 1893

References

External links

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the yellow-necked spurfowl

yellow-necked spurfowl
Birds of East Africa
Birds of the Horn of Africa
yellow-necked spurfowl
yellow-necked spurfowl
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

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