Francolins and Spurfowls - Bird of the Month: May 2013

[Amoli]

Swainsons spurfowl

[Lisbeth]

Swainson's spurfowl

[Toko]

Hartlaub's Spurfowl



Size: 25 to 28cm. Weight: 270g. Medium-sized gamebirds with black, red or orange legs. Both male and female are alike in colours and markings and reside in bush habitats. They are frequent tree roosters and can be seen in small to large coveys.

Hartlaub's spurfowl (Pternistis hartlaubi) prefer a granite and sandstone habitat surrounded by semi-desert steppe. A 'boulder outcrop forced habitat' is evidence of the presence of the larger and more aggressive red-billed spurfowl that take over nearby savannahs. They are found in pairs or small groups and are frequent flyers. These spurfowl seek refuge between large rocks where they also seek shelter and roost.
Scattered populations can be found in central and northern Namibia in particular along the escarpment from Windhoek to the Kunene River and east to Grootfontein. They are absent from the open plains of Ovamboland.

[nan]

[Flutterby]

Tx Toks!!

[Amoli]

Nice ones Flutterby and Toko - beautiful.

[Dewi]

Coqui Francolin

[Flutterby]

[Toko]

Red-necked Spurfowl


Ian Sinclair, Southern African Birds: A Photographic Guide


Description
The only spurfowl in southern Africa with red bill, red around the eyes, red throat and red legs. Swainson's spurfowl is similar in that it has red around the eyes and red throat but differs in having a black bill and blackish-brownish legs. The black streaking on the flanks against a silvery/grey/white background is also distinctive. This is a wide-ranging species with extensive variation in plumage patterning and colouration but the distinguishing characters mentioned above hold for all forms.
Male and female plumage similar. The male can be distinguished by have 1-2 long, sharp leg spurs.

Distribution
The Red-necked Spurfowl has a broad band of distribution across subequatorial Africa, from Angola (with a minor extension into far-northern Namibia) and Zaire, across to Tanzania and Kenya, and extending southwards through Mozambique, eastern Zimbabwe, the eastern Transvaal, KwaZulu-Natal midlands and the eastern and southern Cape Province. It is generally confined to the relatively high-rainfall eastern parts of southern Africa, but the distribution is fragmented with the southern and southeastern Cape Province apparently constituting its stronghold within the region.
It is found in pairs or small family groups. Its presence is usually revealed by its harsh calls. It may have been overlooked in some areas because of its similarity, especially vocally, to Swainson’s Spurfowl .

Habitat
It is usually confined to dense cover and moist habitats, most frequently occurring on the edges of evergreen forests, in riparian thickets or marsh edges. In places it feeds in nearby cultivated land where this species and Swainson’s Spurfowl may be seen together in KwaZulu-Natal, the Transvaal and Zimbabwe. The vegetation analysis shows a strong association with Afromontane Forest, one of the dominant habitat types within the Eastern Zimbabwe Highlands, and with Valley Bushveld.

Diet
Mainly eats invertebrates in summer and plant matter in winter, doing most of its foraging by digging and gleaning in the early morning and evening. The following food items have been recorded in its diet: Invertebrates (termites, ticks, molluscs), plants (small tubers, bulbs, roots, seeds, fruit, commercial grains)

Breeding
Nest a scrape in the ground, lined with grass and a few feathers, and hidden among vegetation. Breeding season (laying dates): variable, depending on rainfall but mainly November to April. The Red-necked Spurfowl, in the Eastern Cape area, breed from April to August. In the rest of the country the breeding season is from November to February.
After laying 3-9 eggs, the female incubates them for about 23 days before they hatch. Chick can fly about 10 days after hatching. Young are almost fully grown by 3-4 months.


Addo Elephant National Park

[Amoli]

Double banded Sandgrouse