Red Spurfowl Galloperdix spadicea Scientific name definitions

35·5–38 cm; 284–454 g. Rather long-bodied with relatively long, dark tail (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Upperparts scaled, sometimes appearing rather frosted. Female generally has crown somewhat darker, upperparts barred; differs from other female Galloperdix by chestnut underparts with black-tipped feathers; has 1–2 spurs, versus male’s four prominent spurs (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Female Francolinus pondericianus has boldly streaked underparts and is shorter-bodied (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Bill has reddish base and pinkish-horn tip, irides yellow-brown to brown, bare periocular skin brick red (male) or pinkish red (female), brighter during breeding season in both sexes, and legs red (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Juvenile male more richly and deeply coloured than similar adult female, sometimes with bolder black body barring (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Males of different races separated by extent of blackish on crown, and by shade of chestnut overall, with <em>stewarti</em> richer chestnut , darker and virtually unscaled, with a buff-tinged grey head , and caurina paler and greyer, with broader scaling; females of different races differ in colour of upperparts, with <em>stewarti</em> darker above and caurina mainly greyish rufous (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Occupies a variety of habitat types, both dry and moist (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), especially those in hilly ground that afford cover, e.g. deciduous scrub, Lantana thickets or scrubby bamboo (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); often close to cultivation; mostly at 300–1250 m (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), but up to 2300 m in places.

Sedentary, remaining in same area for long periods (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). When alarmed, dodges from one piece of cover to another; runs very fast, flying only when hard pressed (and usually uphill) (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), and rarely any distance.

Seeds, berries, fruits, especially figs, and various invertebrates. Mainly forages within vegetation, though will feed on paths and at field edges in early morning and evening; usually in small groups of up to five birds (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Male’s advertising call  is an emphatic crowing “k-r-r-r-kwek, kr-kr-kwek, kr-kr-kwek”, repeated rapidly, then changing into a rapid nervous cackling that even rises in pitch and ends in a yappy bark, and could potentially be mistaken for analagous vocalization of Gallus sonneratii; flushed birds utter a harsh, cackling “kuk-kuk-kuk-kukaak” (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Reported in most months: spadicea generally in Jan–Jun; caurina May–Jun; and stewarti in most months except the wettest (Jun–Aug). Monogamous. Nest is a shallow scrape, sometimes lined with a few pieces of grass and some leaves, amid dense vegetation, e.g. bamboo (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Usually 2–5 buff-coloured (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) eggs; incubation by female alone, but both parents tend chicks. No further information.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Mace Lande: safe. Considered safe because of extensive range, throughout which it is considered widely scattered; also because at any rate in some parts, e.g. S India, species occurs in coffee estates and secondary vegetation. Nevertheless, local extinctions have occurred in recent decades, even in protected areas where the species was formerly common, e.g. in parts of Gujarat (3 Trivedi, P. and Soni, V.C. (2006). Significant bird records and local extinctions in Purna and Ratanmahal Wildlife Sanctuaries, Gujarat, India. Forktail. 22: 39–48. Close ). No records from Nepal, although sometimes listed for there (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Race caurina is considered to be generally rare within comparatively small range within the Aravali Hills, but is known from at least one protected area, Sariska Tiger Reseve, Rajasthan (4 Sankar, K., Mohan, D. and Pandey, S. (1993). Birds of Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India. Forktail. 8: 133–141. Close ). In contrast, the nominate race is known from many protected areas including Kanha Tiger Reserve, Bori Wildlife Sanctuary and Pench Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh), in all which it is common (5 Jayapal, R., Q. Qureshi, and R. Chellam (2005). Some significant records of birds from the central Indian highlands of Madhya Pradesh. Indian Birds 1(5):98–102. Close ). No further information available.