Crested guineafowl

Crested guineafowl
G. p. edouardi in Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park, South Africa
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Numididae
Genus:	Guttera
Species:	G. pucherani
Binomial name
Guttera pucherani Hartlaub, 1860

The crested guineafowl (Guttera pucherani) is a member of the Numididae, the guineafowl bird family. It is found in open forest, woodland and forest-savanna mosaics in sub-Saharan Africa.

Description

It has a total length around 50 cm (20 in) and weighs 721–1,543 g (1.590–3.402 lb). The plumage is overall blackish with dense white spots. It has a distinctive black crest on the top of its head, the form of which varies from small curly feathers to down depending upon subspecies, and which easily separates it from all other species of guineafowl, except the plumed guineafowl. The names "crested" and "plumed" are often misapplied across the species.

Breeding

The species is monogamous with probable strong and long-lasting pair bonds. Courtship feeding is common, the author having seen a captive male run 5–10 m to the hen to present some particular morsel. The nest is a well-hidden scrape in long grass or under a bush; eggs vary from nearly white to buff and a clutch is usually around four or five.

Intraspecific taxonomy

G. p. pucherani in Arabuko Sokoke N.P., eastern Kenya

G. p. edouardi in Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park, eastern South Africa

G. p. edouardi in Somkhanda Game Reserve, eastern South Africa

The intraspecific taxonomy of the crested guineafowl has been subject to considerable debate, but most recent authorities accept five subspecies (e.g. I. Martinez in Handbook of the Birds of the World [HBW], 1994). Visual differences between the subspecies, in addition to the form of the crest, are in the colour and position of any patches on the otherwise grey-blue neck and face. Such patches vary from almost white to yellow, to red. The nominate subspecies is found in East Africa from Somalia to Tanzania, and is distinctive with a grey-blue neck and extensive red to the face. It was formerly considered a monotypic species, the Kenya crested guineafowl, in which case the remaining subspecies, which are found in southern, central, and west Africa, retain the common name crested guineafowl, but under the scientific name Guttera edouardi. They have a bluish face and neck, though the nape is very pale greyish (almost white) in some subspecies and the throat is red in others. In 2022, Clements and the IUCN have split the species into three, with the nominate being called eastern crested guineafowl, subspecies sclateri and verreauxi being called western crested guineafowl, and edouardi and Barbara being called southern crested guineafowl. The IOC has left the species complex together.

Subspecies

The five recognized subspecies are:

• G. p. barbata (Ghigi, 1905) – Malawi crested guineafowl – southeastern Tanzania to eastern Mozambique and Malawi
• G. p. edouardi (Hartlaub, 1867) - Edward's crested guineafowl – eastern Zambia to Mozambique and eastern South Africa
• G. p. pucherani (Hartlaub, 1861) – Kenya crested guineafowl – Somalia to Tanzania, Zanzibar, and Tumbatu Island
• G. p. sclateri (Reichenow, 1898) – Sclater's crested guineafowl – northwestern Cameroon
• G. p. verreauxi (Elliot, 1870) – Lindi crested guineafowl – Guinea-Bissau to western Kenya, Angola, and Zambia

External links

• Crested Guineafowl, Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
• Crested Guineafowl videos on the Internet Bird Collection