Black Francolin
The black francolin (Francolinus francolinus) is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes. It was formerly known as the black partridge. It is the state bird of Haryana state, India (locally known as kaala teetar, काला तीतर). Fried black francolin is eaten in Azerbaijani cuisine.
Hear it on xeno-canto Community recordings — opens xeno-canto →In Türkiye
Recorded year-round, with records rising clearly in summer.
Most records in May and July.
Provinces where it makes up the largest share of bird records.
Adjusted for how many birdwatchers are out each month; the busiest month = 100%.
3,230 records from Türkiye · #212 of 634 species by number of records. Source: GBIF.org (October 2026). All birds of Türkiye
About
There are six recognized subspecies:
F. f. francolinus (Linnaeus, 1766) – western black francolin - Cyprus, southern Turkey to Iraq and Iran
F. f. arabistanicus (Zarudny and Harms, 1913) – Iranian black francolin – southern Iraq and western Iran
F. f. asiae (Bonaparte, 1856) – Indian black francolin – northern India
F. f. henrici (Bonaparte, 1856) - South Persian black francolin – southern Pakistan to western India
F. f. bogdanovi (Zarudny, 1906) – southern Iran and Afghanistan to southern Pakistan
F. f. melanonotus (Hume, 1888) – eastern India to Sikkim and Bangladesh.
The black francolin has a length range around 33 to 36 cm (13 to 14 in) and weight about 453 g (16.0 oz). The male is black with a white patch on the cheek, a chestnut collar and white spots on the flanks.
Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
At a glance
The flamboyant male is black with a red collar and white spots, singing a loud creaky song in damp scrub, restricted to southern Turkey.
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