Birdfinding.info ⇒ In its native range, Erckel’s Francolin is generally common in the vicinity of Addis Ababa, especially along the Jemma Escarpment, and in northern Ethiopia in Simien Mountains National Park. Also common in several parts of Hawaii, including: western Kauai in Waimea Canyon, Koke’e State Park, and along the Pihea Trail; western Oahu at Ka’ena Point and the Mokuleia Forest Reserve; and on the Big Island at Pu’u Anahulu, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and all along Saddle Road.
Erckel’s Francolin
Pternistis erckelii
Endemic to the Ethiopian highlands, where it occurs in dry brushy ravines and hillsides, mainly between 2,000 and 3,500 m elevation.
The bulk of its natural range is the mountains of north-central Eritrea south to central Ethiopia, northwest of the Great Rift Valley. There are isolated populations to the north in northeastern Sudan (in the hills above Port Sudan), southwest in western Ethiopia, and in pockets southeast of the Great Rift Valley in the Ahmar and Mendebo Mountains.
Introduced to all of the main Hawaiian Islands between 1957 and 1966. Populations are well-established on Kauai, Oahu, Lanai, and the Big Island, and more tenuously on Maui and Molokai.
Identification
A large, heavily streaked, gray-and-brown partridge. The sexes are similar, except that males have two long, sharp spurs on each leg.
Upperparts are mostly medium-gray with chestnut streaks. Underparts are white with dark streaks that vary from chestnut to black.
The crown is solid chestnut, with a blackish eyebrow and a prominent white spot or streak behind the eye. Otherwise, the forehead, face, and cheeks are densely streaked with white-and-black—appearing gray at a distance—and the throat is clean white.
Erckel’s Francolin. (Makalei Golf Course, Big Island, Hawaii; August 5, 2019.) © Daniele Mitchell
Erckel’s Francolin. (Pu’u Anahulu, Big Island, Hawaii; February 7, 2007.) © Michael Walther
Erckel’s Francolin. (Kipuka Puaulu, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Big Island, Hawaii; February 2, 2020.) © Kent Forward
Erckel’s Francolin, male—note long, sharp spurs on leg. (Koke’e State Park, Kauai, Hawaii; September 5, 2018.) © Barry Blust
Erckel’s Francolin, dust-bathing. (Pihea Trail, Kauai, Hawaii; April 16, 2019.) © Lizabeth Southworth
Erckel’s Francolin, showing clean, white throat. (Koke’e State Park, Kauai, Hawaii; April 9, 2019.) © Neil Vinson
Erckel’s Francolin. (Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Big Island, Big Island, Hawaii; February 22, 2016.) © Dominic Chartier
Erckel’s Francolin. (Muketuri Alem Ketema, Amara, Ethiopia; June 8, 2019.) © Forest Jarvis
Erckel’s Francolin, yellowed with soil. (Pihea and Alakai Swamp Trail Junction, Kauai, Hawaii; March 19, 2019.) © Ellen and/or Jerry Horak
Erckel’s Francolin, showing mostly gray upperparts. (Pua Akala Tract, Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, Big Island, Hawaii; February 22, 2014.) © Doug Cooper
Immature plumage is a nondescript mixture of gray and brown.
Erckel’s Francolin, immature. (Old Saddle Road, Big Island, Hawaii; September 3, 2019.) © Michael Bolte
Erckel’s Francolin, showing chestnut streaks on breast. (Pihea and Alakai Swamp Trail Junction, Kauai, Hawaii; November 14, 2018.) © Braden Judson
Erckel’s Francolin, close-up of black-and-white streaking on face. (Mauna Loa Road, Big Island, Hawaii; July 16, 2014.) © R. Miller
Notes
Monotypic species.
References
BirdLife International. 2018. Pternistis erckelii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22678865A132050815. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22678865A132050815.en. (Accessed March 22, 2020.)
eBird. 2020. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed March 22, 2020.)
Madge, S., and P.J.K. McGowan. 2002. Pheasants, Partridges, and Grouse: A Guide to the Pheasants, Partridges, Quails, Grouse, Guineafowl, Buttonquails, and Sandgrouse of the World. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
McGowan, P.J.K., G.M. Kirwan, P. Boesman. 2020. Erckel’s Francolin (Pternistis erckelii). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. https://www.hbw.com/node/53425. (Accessed March 22, 2020.)
Pratt, H.D. 1993. Enjoying Birds in Hawaii: A Birdfinding Guide to the Fiftieth State (Second Edition). Mutual Publishing, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Pyle, R.L., and P. Pyle. 2017. The Birds of the Hawaiian Islands: Occurrence, History, Distribution, and Status. Version 2 (January 1, 2017). http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/birds/rlp-monograph/. B.P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Xeno-Canto. 2020. Erckel’s Francolin – Pternistis erckelii. https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Pternistis-erckelii. (Accessed March 22, 2020.)