Elgon francolin
subspecies of bird
The Elgon francolin (Scleroptila elgonensis) is a francolin found in moorland at altitudes above 2,300 metres (7,500 ft) from eastern Uganda (Mount Elgon) to central Kenya.
It was described by Ogilvie-Grant in 1891 as Francolinus elgonensis, and some authorities still use the genus Francolinus for all members otherwise placed in Scleroptila. It was previously considered a subspecies of the moorland francolin (S. psilolaema), which is now thought to be endemic to Ethiopia. Alternatively, it was suggested as a subspecies of the Shelley's francolin (S. shelleyi elgonensis), or even a hybrid between the moorland and red-winged francolins. However, it was split as a distinct species by the IUCN Red List and BirdLife International in 2014, and by the International Ornithological Congress in 2022 based on a 2019 study. The Elgon francolin resembles the moorland francolin, but the latter is duller (less rufescent) and has a black-dotted throat, and also differs in vocalizations.
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This entry incorporates text from “Elgon francolin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.