Manu Minute: The Erckel's francolin

By Patrick Hart,

Ann Tanimoto-Johnson, Savannah Harriman-Pote

Published October 21, 2021 at 4:00 PM HST

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Erckel’s francolins are plump, partridge-like birds with a distinctive chestnut-colored cap on their heads, a black stripe on their eyes and foreheads, and chestnut streaked feathers on their chests and backs.

Ann Tanimoto-Johnson

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Erckel's francolins have black bills and yellow-grey legs and feet. They’re about 16 inches long and weigh a little more than two pounds. Both male and female francolins look similar in plumage coloration.

Ann Tanimoto-Johnson

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Female francolins lay a large clutch of eggs in a nest on the ground. When the young hatch, they are already covered with feathers and are ready to forage on their own.

Ann Tanimoto-Johnson

We've got one game bird a long way from home: the Erckel's francolin. Native to Eritrea, Sudan, and Ethiopia, Hawaiʻi is one of only a handful of places you can find an Erckel's francolin outside of Africa. They were introduced to the islands during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and populations thrived on Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, and Hawaiʻi Island.

AMTJ_Manu Minute, Erckel's francolin spectrogram video.mp4