Black Francolin

Subspecies F. f. asiae : male
Photo by Rajiv Lather
Karnal, India

Francolinus francolinus

Identification

31–36 cm (12-14 in)
Male

• Mainly black
• White spotting on back and flanks
• Chestnut neck collar
• White cheek patches
• Brown wings
• Red legs
  

The amount white spotting on the flanks varies considerably

Subspecies F. f. asiae : female
Photo by Alok Tewari
Gurgaon Rural, Haryana, India, January-2018

Female

• Mainly brown
• Chestnut hind neck
• The depth of colour of the females varies

Distribution

Kashmir, Cyprus, south-eastern Turkey, Iran, southwest Turkmenistan and northeast India.

Introduced to Hawaii

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 6 subspecies^[1]:

• F. f. francolinus:

• Cyprus and Asia Minor to Iraq and Iran

• F. f. arabistanicus:

• Southern Iraq and western Iran

Nominate subspecies : female
Photo by lior kislev
Btecha North Israel, November 2008

• F. f. bogdanovi:

• Southern Iran and Afghanistan to southern Pakistan

• F. f. henrici:

• Southern Pakistan to western India

• F. f. asiae:

• Northern India

• F. f. melanonotus:

• Eastern India to Sikkim and Bangladesh

Habitat

Scrubby habitats with plenty of low cover. Grassland and other cultivated areas. Also wetlands.

Behaviour

Breeding

It nests in a bare ground scrape. 8-18 white-spotted pale brown/greenish eggs are laid.

Subspecies F. f. henrici : male
Photo by Jugal Tiwari
Kutch, Gujarat, India, September 2009

Diet

The diet includes a wide variety of plant and insect food.

Vocalisation

<flashmp3>Black_Francolin.mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
Recording by Alok Tewari
(Jim Corbett NP, India, May-2016
Call

In Culture

State bird of Haryana (India).

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Wikipedia
3. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black Francolin. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black_Francolin

External Links

Search for photos of Black Francolin in the gallery

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