Red-necked Spurfowl

Red-necked Spurfowl
Pternistis afer loangwae
Information
Common Name	Red-necked Francolin
Range	central belt of Africa and down the east coast to South Africa.
Scientific Classification
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Aves
Order	Galliformes
Family	Phasianidae Perdicinae
Genus	Pternistis
Species	Pternistis afer
Conservation Status
Least Concern

The Red-necked spurfowl or red-necked francolin (Pternistis afer), is a species of francolin in the Phasianidae family.

Description

It is 25–38 cm in length, with a significant size difference between the subspecies, of which there are some seven or eight. It is a generally dark francolin, brown above and black-streaked grey or white underparts. The bill, bare facial skin, neck and legs are bright red.

Distribution and Status

The red-necked spurfowl breeds across the central belt of Africa and down the east coast to South Africa. Widespread and common throughout its large range, the red-necked spurfowl is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Habits

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.

Races

Many races have been described. Most of them are subsumed under 7 to 8 taxa, but these differ depending on the author:

Image	Name
	Pternistis afer afer (Müller, 1776)
	western Angola & northwestern Namibia
	Pternistis afer castaneiventer (Gunning & Roberts, 1911)
	eastern South Africa
	Pternistis afer harterti (Reichenow, 1909)
	Rwanda, Burundi to northern Tanzania
	Pternistis afer lehmanni (Latham, 1801)
	Limpopo and Mpumalanga, South Africa
	Pternistis afer leucoparaeus (Latham, 1801)
	southeastern Kenya
	Pternistis afer loangwae (C.H.B.Grant & Mackworth-Praed, 1934)
	eastern Zambia & Malawi
	Pternistis afer notatus (Roberts, 1924)
	Western Cape, South Africa
	Pternistis afer swynnertoni (W.L.Sclater, 1921)
	eastern Zimbabwe & central Mozambique