The black francolin is a member of the pheasant family. It’s also known by another name: black partridge. There are six subspecies and their habitat covers a whopping 3,020,000 km², all the way from Turkey to Iran to India and Myanmar. They’re even found in Cyprus and Turkmenistan.

The black francolin is a game bird and because it was so greatly hunted, its numbers dwindled considerably. However, partly due to the fact that they’re found in so many countries and that there was a push to limit hunting in many of the countries the black partridge calls home, the population is recovering. Despite this, they’re still rare in many places.

Melanoperdix niger

Also known as a Black Partridge, black francolin males have a white mark on their cheek.

The black partridge photos below were taken in the fields between two cottages a hop, skip and jump down the hill from home.

The male is in his winter plumage. In summer, the black on the chest is more spread out.

Black Partridge male in winter plumage.

Black partridges are very shy and very difficult to get close to, to photograph – like quails, although they prefer grassy open ground.

Black partridge females are a paler brown and don’t have a white mark on their cheek.

As you can see with the photo of the female, they are hard to spot. They freeze and hide in the grass till one almost steps on them.

Female black partridge. They really blend into the background.