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Scaly Spurfowl (Pternistis squamatus)

Scaly Spurfowl

Pternistis squamatus

Least Concern

Overview

The scaly spurfowl (Pternistis squamatus) is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is currently classified as a species of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Habitat

This species is distributed across a broad range in Central and East Africa, including Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Three subspecies are recognised, ranging from southeast Nigeria to north and east Democratic Republic of the Congo, east Republic of the Congo to Uganda and central and southwest Kenya, and southeast Kenya to northeast Tanzania.

Did you know?

The specific epithet squamatus is Latin for 'scaled', reflecting a key characteristic of the bird. The scaly spurfowl was formally described in 1857 by the American ornithologist John Cassin from specimens collected by Paul Du Chaillu in the Cape Lopez region of what is now the West Africa state of Gabon.

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