Yellow-necked spurfowl

Yellow-necked spurfowl
File:Francolin.jpg
In Samburu National Reserve, Kenya
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Subfamily:	Perdicinae
Genus:	Pternistis
Species:	P. leucoscepus
Binomial name
Pternistis leucoscepus (Gray, 1867)
Synonyms
Francolinus leucoscepus

The yellow-necked spurfowl or yellow-necked francolin (Pternistis leucoscepus) is a species of bird in the Phasianidae family. 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.

Behavior

It has been noted that this bird is most active at dawn and dusk. 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.

Call

The call of a yellow-necked spurfowl is a series of scratchy descending upslurs, up to seven in a series. 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

• Yellow-necked Spurfowl (Francolinus leucoscepus).jpg

  In Tsavo East National Park, Kenya, Africa

• Francolinus leucoscepus1.jpg

  From US Fish and Wildlife Service image library

• Francolinus leucoscepus -Denver Zoo, Colorado, USA-8a.jpg

  At Denver Zoo, USA

• PternistesSmit.jpg

  Illustration by Joseph Smit, 1893

References

• BirdLife International 2004. Francolinus leucoscepus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 10 July 2007.