Jackson´s Spurfowl

Jackson´s spurfowl or Jackson´s francolin (Pternistis jacksoni) is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is found in the highlands of Kenya and Uganda. Its preferred habitats include mountainous forests and stands of bamboo above 2000 m. It is common in Mount Kenya and the Aberdare range. Males and females are similar in plumage but males have spurs on their legs and tend to be larger.

 Jackson´s spurfowl has distinctive red bill and legs which sets it apart from the moorland francolin which overlaps in range and the smaller scaly spurfowl is unmarked on the underside. The feather edges on the underside of Jackson´s spurfowl are white, marking out the chestnut feathers.

They are said to be monogamous and they breed in December-February in the dry season.

Distribution: Jackson´s spurfowl is found mainly above 2000 m on moorland, forest edge, Podocarpus, and bamboo in Kenya in the Aberdare range, Mount Kenya, the Mau Escarpment and Cherangani. The distribution extends into the borders of Uganda in Kapkwata at the edge of Mount Elgon.

Taxonomy: Jackson´s francolin was described in 1891 by the Scottish ornithologist William Robert Ogilvie-Grant from specimens collected by Frederick John Jackson in Kikuyu, Kenya. Ogilvie-Grant honoured Jackson and coined the binomial name Francolinus jacksoni. The species is now placed in the genus Pternistis that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832. Jackson´s spurfowl is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised even though pollenorum of Mount Kenya was claimed to be somewhat darker. The form gurae has been applied to the population from the Mau escarpment while patriciae has been named for the population from the Cherangani hills.

Jackson´s spurfowl is placed within a grouping of montane spurfowls and genetically it is closest to Pternistis griseostriatus and among the so-called to montane spurfowl to Swierstra´s francolin of Angola.