Swamp Francolin

About the Swamp Francolin

The swamp francolin (Ortygornis gularis), also called swamp partridge, is a francolin species native to the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India and Nepal. It is considered extinct in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.

It was formerly classified in the genus Francolinus, but phylogenetic analyses indicates that it groups with the crested francolin (O. sephaena) and grey francolin (O. pondicerianus). All three species were reclassified in the genus Ortygornis.

From Frank Finn's The Game Birds of India & Asia (1911): This species is easily distinguished from most of our partridges by its large size and comparatively long legs; as in the last species, the sexes are alike in plumage, but the cock is easily distinguishable by his spurs. The upper plumage is brown barred with buff, and the outer tail-feathers chestnut, as in the grey partridge; but the throat is bright rust-red, and the rest of the under-parts brown longitudinally streaked with white. The bill is blackish, the eyes dark, and the feet dull red. The cock of this species, which is a little larger than the hen, will measure... Wikipedia →