Hildebrandt's spurfowl

Hildebrandt's spurfowl (Pternistis hildebrandti) is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia. The species is named for Johann Maria Hildebrandt, who collected the first specimens in Kenya. The sexes differ markedly in their plumage and females are smaller than males.

Hildebrandt's spurfowl
Male
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Genus:	Pternistis
Species:	P. hildebrandti
Binomial name
Pternistis hildebrandti (Cabanis, 1878)
geographic distribution
Synonyms
Francolinus hildebrandti

Taxonomy

Hildebrandt's spurfowl was described in 1878 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis based on specimens collected by the zoologist Johann Maria Hildebrandt in the Taita–Taveta County of Kenya. Cabanis honoured Hildebrandt and coined the scientific name Francolinus (Scleroptera) hildebrandti.^[2][3] The species is now placed in the genus Pternistis that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832.^[4][5] A phylogenetic study published in 2019 found that Hildebrandt's spurfowl is sister to the Natal spurfowl.^[6]

Two subspecies are recognised:^[5]

• P. h. hildebrandti (Cabanis, 1878) — Kenya, north and west Tanzania, southeast Democratic Republic of the Congo, northeast Zambia
• P. h. johnstoni (Shelley, 1894) — southeast Tanzania, north Mozambique, Malawi