Shelley's Francolin ( Scleroptila shelleyi, family: Phasianidae)

shelleys francolin kruger national park birds The Shelley's Francolin (Latin name Scleroptila shelleyi) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 191 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 66 also a picture of the Shelley's Francolin on page 80. The Shelley's Francolin belongs to the family of birds classified as Phasianidae.

The Robert's 7 Latin name for Shelley's Francolin has changed from Francolinus shelleyi in Robert's 6 to Scleroptila shelleyi

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Shelley's Francolin is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Shelley's Francolin in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Shelley's Francolin : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Shelley's Francolin is a bird a little bit bigger than a starling. The height of the Shelley's Francolin is about 33 cms and its weight is about 500 gms

The male and female Shelley's Francolin have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is brown.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is grey.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is black, white.
  • Legs are yellow.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Shelley's Francolin feeds on the ground mainly

Invertebrates

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Shelley's Francolin is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Scleroptila shelleyi will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Shelley's Francolin is to create the nest in a hole in the ground. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 3 to 8

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Shelley's Francolin are: woodlands and grasslands

You will normally see the Shelley's Francolin in pairs or flocks and not as single birds.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... iNtendele

Afrikaans ...Laeveldpatrys

German ... Shelleyfrankolin

Portuguese ... Francolim de Shelley

French ... Francolin de Shelley

Dutch ... Shelley-Frankolijn

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 191

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za