INDEX - Africa
INDEX - World 
BIRDS of THE WORLD

GALLIFORMES of Africa

Galliformes are heavy-bodied ground-feeding domestic or game birds. Most are plump-bodied with thick necks and moderately long legs, and have rounded and rather short wings. They do not fly well if at all, but walk and run instead for transportation. These birds vary greatly in size from 12-120 cm. Many adult males have one to several sharp horny spurs on the back of each leg, which they use for fighting. They can be found worldwide and in a variety of habitats, including forests, deserts, and meadows. Male courtship behavior includes elaborate visual displays of plumage. Gallinaceous birds feed on a variety of plant and animal material, which may include fruits, seeds, leaves, shoots, flowers, tubers, roots, insects, snails, worms, lizards, snakes, small rodents, and eggs. [abstracted from Wikipedia]



Francolins

Order Galliformes    Family Phasianidae

The francolins have been traditionaly placed in one genus, Francolinus, abut recently the tendency is to place them in more than one. They are members of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. Some francolin species are also know as spurfowls, Most species are restricted to Africa, but those in the reorganinzed Francolinus occur in Asia. Francolins are terrestrial (though not flightless) birds of the Old World that feed on insects, vegetable matter and seeds. Most of the members have a hooked upper beak, tails with fourteen feathers and in many of them the male has tarsal spurs.


Genus Dendroperdix - 1 species

Francolin, Crested Dendroperdix sephaena   Found: Africa
Photographed by  1, 2) Dick Daniels - Kruger National Park, South Africa  
    3, 4) Dick - Kruger National Park  5) Sandy Cole - South Africa


Genus Peliperdix
Found: Africa

Francolin, Coqui Peliperdix coqui   Found: Africa
Photographed by:  1, 2) Arno Meintjes   3) DIck Daniels - Tanzania  4) Dick - Tanzania



Genus Pternistis
Found: Africa

Francolin, Erckel's Pternistis erckelii   Found: Africa, Hawaii (introduced)
Photographed by: 1, 2, 3, 4) Dick Daniels - Kauai, Hawaii


Francolin, Hildebrandt's  Pternistis hildebrandti  Found: Africa
Photographed by: 1, 2, 3) Carol Foil - Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya


Francolin, Natal aka Natal Spurfowl  Pternistis natalensis   Found: Africa
Photographed by: 1) Dick Daniels - Kruger National Park, South Africa   2) Dick Daniels - Kruger National Park  3) Arno Meintjes


Francolin, Red-billed  Pternistis adspersus  Found: Africa
Photographed by: 1) Hans Hillewaert - Etosha, Namibi  2) Charlie Westerinen - the Hawange National Park in Zimbabwae


Francolin, Red-necked aka Red-necked Spurfowl Pternistis afer   Found: Africa
Photographed by: 1) Graham Laurence  2) Dick Daniels - Tanzania


Francolin, Swainson's Pternistis swainsonii Found: Africa
Photographed by:  1) Arno Meintjes  2, 3) Chris Eason - Kruger National Park, South Africa


Francolin,Yellow-necked aka Yellow-necked Spurfowl Pternistis leucoscepus Found: Africa
Photographed by:  1) Carol Foil -  Kenya   2) Gary Stolz - Kenya  3) Lip Kee Yap
   4) Dick Daniels - San Diego Zoo   5) Sandy Cole - San Diego Zoo  6) Dick Daniels - Tanzania


Genus Scleroptila
Found: Africa

Francolin, Shelley's  Scleroptila shelleyi  Found: Africa
Drawn / Photographed by: 1) John Gerrard Keulemans - Catalogue of the birds in the British Museum 
    2) Darren Bellerby - Sunbird Lodge, Lake Elementatia Kenya 






All photos on this site are available for general use. Please credit the photographer. Some images have additional constraints such as no commercial use or no modifications. Click the photo credit link for details.    Dick Daniels, webmaster.