The red-necked spurfowlorred-necked francolin (Pternistis afer), is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae that is a resident species in southern Africa.
| Red-necked spurfowl | |
|---|---|
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| Adult and immature P. afer cranchii (Leach, 1818)inQueen Elizabeth NP | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Galliformes |
| Family: | Phasianidae |
| Genus: | Pternistis |
| Species: |
P. afer
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| Binomial name | |
| Pternistis afer (Müller, PLS, 1776) | |
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geographic distribution
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| Synonyms | |
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The red-necked spurfowl was described in 1776 by the German zoologist Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller and given the binomial name Tetrao afer.[2] The type locality was later designated as Benguela in western Angola.[3][4] The specific epithet afer is the Latin word for "African".[5] The species is now placed in the genus Pternistis that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832.[6][7]Amolecular phylogenetic study published in 2019 found that the red-necked spurfowl is sister to the grey-breasted spurfowl.[8]
Although many subspecies have been described only four are now recognised:[7]
The red-necked spurfowl is 25–38 cm (9.8–15.0 in) in length, with significant size differences between the subspecies.[9] It is a generally dark spurfowl, brown above and black-streaked grey or white underparts. The bill, bare facial skin, neck and legs are bright red.
The red-necked spurfowl breeds across the central belt of Africa and down the east coast to South Africa.
The red-necked spurfowl is a wary species, keeping to deep cover, although it sometimes feeds in open scrub or cultivation if disturbance is limited and there are thickets nearby. The nest is a bare scrape, and three to nine eggs are laid.
Widespread and common throughout its large range, the red-necked spurfowl is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[1]
