Red Spurfowl
Galloperdix spadicea
The Red Spurfowl (Galloperdix spadicea) is a uncommon partridges, pheasants, grouse, and alli found only in India, weighing about 359 g. The red spurfowl is a member of the pheasant family and is endemic to India.
About the Red Spurfowl
The red spurfowl is a member of the pheasant family and is endemic to India. It is a bird of forests, and is quite secretive despite its size. It has a distinctive call and is often hard to see except for a few seconds when it flushes from the undergrowth. It appears reddish and like a long-tailed partridge. The bare skin around the eye is reddish. The legs of both males and females have one or two spurs, which give them their name.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
Overall reddish-brown, this large partridge-like bird has a somewhat long tail. The upper parts are brown with dark barring while the face and neck are more grey in the male. The underside is rufous with dark markings and both sexes have a red facial skin patch and red legs with one or two spurs (rarely three or four while females may have none). Downy chicks have an unmarked cinnamon brown head, a dark brown band along the back bordered by creamy stripes edged with thin lines of dark brown. The male of the distinctive Kerala race, G. s.
What the Red Spurfowl sounds like
Where it lives
When to see it
Best months: January, February, March, April, May, June, August, September, October, November, December, with peak activity in February. It is a resident species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Red Spurfowl?
- Overall reddish-brown, this large partridge-like bird has a somewhat long tail. Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Red Spurfowl?
- The Red Spurfowl is a large sized bird weighing about 359 g.
- Where can you see a Red Spurfowl?
- The Red Spurfowl is endemic to India, which is the only country where it occurs.
- What does a Red Spurfowl sound like?
- You can listen to 2 field recordings of the Red Spurfowl on this page, contributed to xeno-canto under open licences.
- What birds look similar to a Red Spurfowl?
- The Red Spurfowl is most easily confused with the Painted Spurfowl and the Sri Lanka Spurfowl.
- Is the Red Spurfowl endangered?
- The Red Spurfowl is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Red Spurfowl for real
BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.
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