From Opus

Francolinus shelleyi

Photo by nkgray
Photo taken: Muntshe, southern Kruger Park.

[edit] Identification

Length 28-31 cm. The throat is white with a black edge. The breast and flanks have chestnut stripes, and the belly is barred black and white. In flight, differs from the similar Red-winged Francolin in that only the primaries are reddish.

[edit] Distribution

Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland.

[edit] Taxonomy

Francolinus shelleyi has two subspecies:^[1]

• F. s. shelleyi

• Southern Uganda and south-western Kenya to north-eastern South Africa

• F. s. whytei

• South-eastern DRC to northern Zambia and northern Malawi

[edit] Scleroptila vs. Francolinus

Sibley & Monroe (1996) placed this species in the genus Scleroptila, but this genus has not been recognized by Clements (2007) or Howard & Moore (2003), and the Opus follows in this consensus.

[edit] Habitat

Grassland with scattered acacia, savanna and open woodland - usually rocky areas.

[edit] Behaviour

It is a shy bird. The diet includes insects, small molluscs, seeds, bulbs and roots.

[edit] Vocalisation

A repeated til-it, til-leoo or I'll-drink yer-beer, generally only heard in early morning.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Dickinson, EC, ed. 2003. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 3rd ed., with updates to December 2007 (Corrigenda 7). Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691117010
3. Sibley, CG and BL Monroe. 1996. Birds of the World, on diskette, Windows version 2.0. Charles G. Sibley, Santa Rosa, CA, USA.
4. Sinclair, I and P Ryan. 2003. Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691118154

• List of references

[edit] External Links