26-495: Peliperdix Ortygornis Francolinus Campocolinus Scleroptila Francolins are birds in the tribe Gallini that traditionally have been placed in the genus Francolinus , but now commonly are divided into multiple genera. As previously defined, they were paraphyletic as the genus Pternistis , which was previously included in Francolinus , is more closely related to Old World quails than it
52-591: A la Chine . The grey francolin was formerly placed in the genus Francolinus . Based on a phylogenetic study published in 2019 the grey francolin, together with the crested francolin and swamp francolin , were moved to the resurrected genus Ortygornis that had been introduced in 1852 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach . The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ortux meaning "quail" with ornis meaning "bird". The specific epithet pondicerianus
78-509: A pet dog. Several authors have described the running of the birds as being particularly graceful: They run very swiftly and gracefully; they seem to glide rather than run, and the native lover can pay no higher compliment to his mistress than to liken her gait to that of the Partridge. John Lockwood Kipling , Rudyard Kipling 's father, wrote of this and other partridges such as the chukar partridge : The creature follows its master with
104-402: A rapid and pretty gait that suggests a graceful girl tripping along with a full skirt well held up. The Indian lover can pay his sweetheart no higher compliment than to say she runs like a partridge. In poetry the semblance is one of best hackneyed of Indian metaphors. In poetry, too, the partridge is associated with the moon, and, like the lotus, is supposed to be perpetually longing for it, while
130-603: Is April to September and the nest is a hidden scrape on the ground. The nest may sometimes be made above ground level in a niche in a wall or rock. The clutch is six to eight eggs, but larger clutches, potentially reflecting intraspecific brood parasitism, have been noted. Food includes seeds, grains as well as insects, particularly termites and beetles (especially Tenebrionidae and Carabidae ). They may occasionally take larger prey such as snakes. They roost in groups in low thorny trees. Several species of feather mites, helminth and blood parasites have been described from
156-457: Is a species ( S . elgonensis ), a subspecies of the Shelley's francolin , or even a hybrid between the moorland and red-winged francolins . With a paraphyletic classification, the genus Pternistis in the tribe Coturnicini is also considered a francolin; due to the resulting paraphyly, this classification is no longer supported and has been recommended against. A Molecular Phylogeny of
182-407: Is from the toponym Pondicherry , a town in southeast India. Three subspecies are recognised: This bird is a medium-sized francolin, with males averaging 11.6–13.4 in (29–34 cm) and females averaging 10.2–11.9 in (26–30 cm). The males weigh 9–12 oz (260–340 g) whereas the weight of the females is 7–11 oz (200–310 g). The francolin is barred throughout and
208-564: Is highly disjunct , leading some authorities to split the northern taxa (from Kenya and northwards) into a separate species, the acacia/Archer's francolin ( S. gutturalis , with subspecies lorti ), while maintaining the southern taxa (from Angola and southwards) in the Orange River francolin. Most authorities treat the Elgon francolin ( S . psilolaema elgonensis ) as a subspecies of the moorland francolin , but others have suggested it
234-747: Is normally found foraging on bare or low grass covered ground in scrub and open country, and is rarely found above an altitude of 500 m above sea level in India, and 1200 m in Pakistan. The distribution is south of the foothills of the Himalayas westwards to the Indus Valley and eastwards to Bengal . It is also found in north-western Sri Lanka. Introduced populations are found in the Andaman and Chagos Islands. They have been introduced to Nevada in
260-402: Is to the other francolins. Beginning in 2004, various ornithologists have recommended that it would be clearer to use "spurfowl" for all members of the genus Pternistis and restrict the use of "francolin" to the other species presently or formerly classified in Francolinus . When Pternistis is excluded, the francolins form a monophyletic clade that is a sister group to a clade comprising
286-605: Is widespread across the African tropical rainforest . This Galliformes article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Grey francolin Francolinus ponticerianus The grey francolin ( Ortygornis pondicerianus ) is a species of francolin found in the plains and drier parts of the Indian subcontinent and Iran . This species was formerly also called the grey partridge , not to be confused with
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#1732802016766312-561: The Cape Province of South Africa , occurs marginally in southern Namibia and southwestern Zambia. A fossil francolin, Francolinus capeki , has been described from Late Pliocene deposits of Hungary ; the contemporary fossil galliforms "Francolinus" minor and "F." subfrancolinus are now placed in Palaeocryptonyx . Until the early 1990s, major authorities placed all francolins in the genus Francolinus . In 1992 it
338-531: The Indian subcontinent ). As the Nahan's "francolin" is related to the stone partridge rather than the true francolins and spurfowl, its name is sometimes modified to Nahan's partridge. In addition to the major changes proposed at genus level, the species level taxonomy among several francolins/spurfowl is disputed. For example, the distribution of the Orange River francolin ( Scleroptila levaillantoides )
364-422: The junglefowl ( Gallus ) and the bamboo partridges ( Bambusicola ); together, these clades compose the tribe Gallini . Although formerly classified in the partridge subfamily Perdicinae , this classification is no longer supported, and they are now classified in the subfamily Pavoninae . Francolins are terrestrial (though not flightless) birds that feed on insects, vegetable matter and seeds . Most of
390-542: The European grey partridge . They are mainly ground-living birds and are found in open cultivated lands as well as scrub forest and their local name of teetar is based on their calls, a loud and repeated Ka-tee-tar...tee-tar which is produced by one or more birds. The term teetar can also refer to other partridges and quails. During the breeding season calling males attract challengers, and decoys were used to trap these birds especially for fighting . The grey francolin
416-482: The Pheasants and Partridges Suggests That These Lineages Are Not Monophyletic R. T. Kimball,* E. L. Braun,*,† P. W. Zwartjes,* T. M. Crowe,‡,§ and J. D. Ligon* Peliperdix Francolinus lathami Latham's francolin ( Peliperdix lathami ) or the forest francolin , is a species of bird in the francolin group of the family Phasianidae . It is the only member of the monotypic genus Peliperdix . It
442-489: The United States of America and Hawaii , along with several other species of francolin . The loud calls of the birds are commonly heard early in the mornings. Pairs of birds will sometimes engage in a duet. The female call is a tee...tee...tee repeated and sometimes a kila..kila..kila and the challenge call kateela..kateela..kateela is a duet. They are usually seen in small groups. The main breeding season
468-582: The crested francolin was moved to the monotypic genus Dendroperdix in 1998, and the Nahan's francolin was moved to Ptilopachus in 2006. Though some still maintain all these in Francolinus , the split into multiple genera is becoming more widespread. In 2021, two species in Francolinus (the grey and swamp francolins) along with the crested francolin were moved into the genus Ortygornis , while three species from Peliperdix (the coqui , white-throated , and Schlegel's francolins) were moved into
494-431: The face is pale with a thin black border to the pale throat. The only similar species is the painted francolin , which has a rufous vent. The male can have up to two spurs on the legs while females usually lack them. Subspecies mecranensis is palest and found in arid North-Western India, Eastern Pakistan and Southern Iran. Subspecies interpositus is darker and intermediate found in northern India. The nominate race in
520-467: The members have a hooked upper beak, well-suited for digging at the bases of grass tussocks and rootballs. They have wide tails with fourteen rectrix feathers. Most species exhibit spurs on the tarsi . Of the approximately 17 extant species, the natural range of five (composing the genus Francolinus and Ortygornis ) are restricted to Asia , while the remaining genera are restricted to Africa . Several species have been introduced to other parts of
546-481: The new genus Campocolinus . Pternistis was moved to the tribe Coturnicini and, as with Nahan's "francolin", is no longer considered a francolin. When split, the English name "francolin" is generally restricted to the members of the genera Francolinus , Ortygornis , Campocolinus , Peliperdix and Scleroptila , while the name "spurfowl" is used for Pternistis ("spurfowl" is also used for Galloperdix of
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#1732802016766572-459: The southern peninsula of India has populations with a darker rufous throat, supercilium and is richer brown. They are weak fliers and fly short distances, escaping into undergrowth after a few spurts of flight. In flight it shows a chestnut tail and dark primaries. The race in Sri Lanka is sometimes given the name ceylonensis or considered as belonging to the nominate. The grey francolin
598-401: The species. They are hunted in much of their range using low nets and easily caught using calling decoy birds. The species has long been domesticated in areas of northern Indian subcontinent where it is used for fighting. The domesticated birds can be large at around 500-600g, compared to 250g for wild birds. They are usually carefully reared by hand and become as tame and confiding as
624-623: The world, notably Hawaii . Twelve of the species which occur in Africa are found in the subcontinental region of southern Africa; of these, seven occur in varying proportions within the political boundaries of Namibia and Zambia . Six southern African francolins are considered endemic to the subcontinent, of which three are found in Namibia and Zambia (the Hartlaub's , red-billed and Orange River francolins ). The Cape spurfowl , endemic to
650-512: Was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus 's Systema Naturae . He placed it with all the grouse like birds in the genus Tetrao and coined the binomial name Tetrao pondicerianus . Gmelin based his description on "Le perdix de Pondichéry" that had been described in 1782 by the French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat in his Voyage aux Indes orientales et
676-572: Was suggested that this treatment was problematic, and the francolins should be split into four genera: Francolinus for the Asian species, and the African species divided into Peliperdix , Scleroptila and Pternistis . The crested francolin and Nahan's francolin were considered possibly quite distinct, but still maintained in Peliperdix and Pternistis respectively. Based on further evidence,
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