Hartlaub's Spurfowl

Identification

Hartlaub's Spurfowl is the smallest African spurfowl and is highly sexually dimorphic both in plumage and in size. The male is on averages 28 cm (11 in) in length and weighs 245–290 g (8.6–10.2 oz); the smaller female is around 25 cm (9.8 in) in length and weighs 210–240 g (7.4–8.5 oz). The male has a dark brownish forehead, a prominent white eyestripe and rufous ear coverts. The upperparts are brown-grey with darker bars and streaks. The underparts are pale grey with extensive dark streaks. The upper mandible is brownish and the lower mandible is yellow. The legs are yellow with flattened spurs. The female has upperparts that are similar to those of the male. The underparts, head, neck are a dull rufous without the brown streaking. Both sexes have disproportionately large bills. The juvenile male is similar to the adult male but has finer streaking on the upperparts. The young female is similar to an adult.

Taxonomy

Hartlaub's spurfowl was described in 1869 by the Portuguese naturalist José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage from a specimen collected in Huíla Province, Angola. He coined the binomial name Francolinus hartlaubi. The species is now placed in the genus Pternistis that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832. The specific epithet hartlaubi was chosen to honour the German physician and ornithologist Gustav Hartlaub. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2019 found that Hartlaub's spurfowl was basal to the other species in the genus. Hartlaub's spurfowl is considered as monotypic: the subspecies ovambensis, bradfieldi and crypticus have been described but are not recognised.

Scientific name

Pternistis hartlaubi

Authority

(Barboza du Bocage, 1869)

Order

Galliformes

Family

Phasianidae

Genus

Pternistis

Range and habitat

Hartlaub's spurfowl is endemic to southwest Africa, occurring only in northcentral to northwestern Namibia and a small area of southwestern Angola.<p>Hartlaub's spurfowl is an inhabitant of medium-altitude arid and semiarid regions from 800–1,600 m (2,600–5,200 ft). Throughout its range, its preferred habitat consists of higher ground, mostly on rocky granite and sandstone outcrops (koppies to locals), surrounded by semidesert steppe. Invariably, relatively dense grass and shrubbery are associated with these outcrops.<p>The red-billed spurfowl (Pternistis adspersus) and the Orange River francolin (Scleroptila gutturalis) occur alongside this species, but they occupy different habitats. Red-billed spurfowls prefer bush along watercourses and Orange River francolins can be found on the slopes leading up to the rocky outcrops occupied by Hartlaub's spurfowl.

Migration

Resident species

Behavior

Migration pattern: Resident species.

Conservation

Population trend: stable.

Population trend

stable