Pternistis
Pternistis is a group of ground-dwelling birds in the pheasant family, known as spurfowls or francolins. They are mostly found in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the double-spurred spurfowl also in Morocco.
They were once grouped with francolins, but now are placed in a different branch of the partridge-pheasant family: spurfowls (Pternistis) belong to the tribe Coturnicini, while true francolins are in the tribe Gallini. In 2020, the IOC officially used “spurfowl” for Pternistis and “francolin” for Francolinus and related genera.
The genus was named by Wagler in 1832; its type species is the Cape spurfowl (Pternistis capensis).
They are mostly monogamous, with lifelong pair bonds, and they feed mainly by digging. Their diet includes roots, tubers, seeds, and beans of leguminous shrubs and trees, plus occasional termites, fruit, and flowers. Predators include jackals, caracals, servals, birds of prey, herons, and marabou storks.
The genus contains 23 species.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:02 (CET).