Species profile
About the grey-breasted spurfowl
The grey-breasted spurfowl is endemic to Tanzania and effectively confined to the Serengeti ecosystem and its immediate surroundings — one of the smallest ranges of any bird a safari visitor is likely to see easily.
It is a handsome francolin: grey-streaked below, with a bare orange-red throat patch, a pale moustachial stripe and mottled brown upperparts. Coveys are common along Serengeti tracks and around lodges in the morning, calling with a harsh grating cackle at dawn.
Life in the wild
Behavior & relationships
Behavior
Forages on the ground in coveys, scratching for seeds and insects. Calls loudly at dawn and dusk and roosts in low trees.
Social life
Lives in coveys of about four to eight, typically a pair with their grown young from the season.
What makes it remarkable
Special features
A bare orange throat patch, and a world distribution essentially limited to the greater Serengeti.
