Harwood's spurfowl (''Pternistis Harwoodi''), also known as Harwood's Francolin, is a species of bird in the 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 ...

. It is a grey-brown bird with red bill and tail, and red bare skin around the eyes. Both sexes have similar coloring, although the female is paler in color with a more extensive buff belly. This spurfowl is endemic to Ethiopia, having a range restricted to the Ethiopian highlands on either side of the Blue Nile River between

Lake Tana Lake Tana ( am, ጣና ሐይቅ, T’ana ḥāyik’i; previously Tsana) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately long and wid ...

and its confluence with the Jamma River, as well as its tributaries between these points. Originally thought to inhabit ''

Typha ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in A ...

'' beds growing along small, shallow watercourses and

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

thickets, studies in 1996 found Harwood's spurfowl in a site with neither of these. It is threatened by habitat loss as population pressures force locals into the marginal scrublands favored by the bird as its habitat. Harwood's spurfowl is heavily hunted for food and is sometimes also caught for sale at local markets; its eggs are also a food source.

Taxonomy

Harwood's spurfowl was described in 1899 by the English ornithologists Herbert Weld Blundell and

Simon Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat Major-General Simon Joseph Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat and 3rd Baron Lovat, (25 November 1871 – 18 February 1933), was a leading Roman Catholic aristocrat, landowner, forester, soldier, politician and the 23rd Chief of Clan Fraser. While l ...

from a specimen that they had collected in the Aheafeg area of Ethiopia. They coined 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 ...

''Francolinus harwoodi''. The

specific epithet 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 ...

was chosen to honour the taxidermist and naturalist Leonard Harwood (fl. 1899). The species is now placed in the genus '' Pternistis'' that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler 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 Harwood's spurfowl is sister to

Clapperton's spurfowl Clapperton's spurfowl (''Pternistis clappertoni'') is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, and Uganda. Taxonomy Clappert ...

. Harwood's spurfowl is considered to be monotypic: no

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 ...

are recognised.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.Xeno-canto: audio recordings of Harwood's spurfowl

Harwood's spurfowl Harwood's spurfowl (''Pternistis Harwoodi''), also known as Harwood's Francolin, is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is a grey-brown bird with red bill and tail, and red bare skin around the eyes. Both sexes have similar coloring, ...

Endemic birds of Ethiopia Fauna of the Ethiopian Highlands

Vulnerable animals Vulnerable biota of Africa Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Galliformes-stub