Black Francolin

Overview

Black Francolin: Introduced to Hawaii in 1959, male has a black breast, and flanks with white spots, belly is rufous. Black head with rufous collar, brown crown and white cheek patches. Back and wings are brown scalloped. Lower back, rump, and tail black with fine white bars. Orange legs and feet.

Range and Habitat

Black Francolin: Game bird introduced and established on Molokai, Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Lanai and Kauai. Prefers areas of thick vegetation, usually near water.

INTERESTING FACTS

Erckel, Black, and Gray Francolins were all imported and released in several states during the 1950s and 1960s. The mainland populations did not survive, while all three francolin species thrived in Hawaii.
It was formerly known as the Black Partridge.
The Black Francolin is the state bird of Haryana, a state in northern India.
A group of pheasants has many collective nouns, including a "bouquet", "brace", "plume", "plump", and "trip" of pheasants.

The Black Francolin has a very large range of approximately one to ten million square kilometers. It is primarily found in the Middle East portion of Asia and Europe, but is believed to have once existed in the United States, Guam, and Bangladesh. Found on most of the main Hawaiian Islands. This bird prefers Mediterranean Shrubland, Subtropical, Tropical, or Flooded Grassland, or plantation and arable land ecological systems. The population of the bird has not been fully quantified, but there are known to be between twelve and thirty-six thousand birds in Europe alone. The Black Francolin does not currently meet the criteria for the IUCN Red List and has an evaluation level of Least Concern.