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Manu Minute

Manu Minute: The Erckel's francolin

By Patrick Hart,
Ann Tanimoto-Johnson, Savannah Harriman-Pote
Published October 21, 2021 at 4:00 PM HST
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Erckel’s francolins are plump, partridge-like birds with a distinctive chestnut-colored cap on their heads, a black stripe on their eyes and foreheads, and chestnut streaked feathers on their chests and backs.
Ann Tanimoto-Johnson
Erckel's francolins have black bills and yellow-grey legs and feet. They’re about 16 inches long and weigh a little more than two pounds. Both male and female francolins look similar in plumage coloration.
2 of 3  — Image 2
Erckel's francolins have black bills and yellow-grey legs and feet. They’re about 16 inches long and weigh a little more than two pounds. Both male and female francolins look similar in plumage coloration.
Ann Tanimoto-Johnson
Female francolins lay a large clutch of eggs in a nest on the ground. When the young hatch, they are already covered with feathers and are ready to forage on their own.
3 of 3  — Image 3
Female francolins lay a large clutch of eggs in a nest on the ground. When the young hatch, they are already covered with feathers and are ready to forage on their own.
Ann Tanimoto-Johnson

We've got one game bird a long way from home: the Erckel's francolin. Native to Eritrea, Sudan, and Ethiopia, Hawaiʻi is one of only a handful of places you can find an Erckel's francolin outside of Africa. They were introduced to the islands during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and populations thrived on Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, and Hawaiʻi Island.

AMTJ_Manu Minute, Erckel's francolin spectrogram video.mp4

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Manu Minute Hawaiʻi birdsLOHE LabUH Hilo
Patrick Hart
Patrick Hart is the host of HPR's Manu Minute. He runs the Listening Observatory for Hawaiian Ecosystems (LOHE) Lab at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.
See stories by Patrick Hart
Ann Tanimoto-Johnson
Ann Tanimoto-Johnson is the Lab Manager & Research Technician in the Hart Lab/Listening Observatory for Hawaiian Ecosystems (LOHE) Bioacoustics Lab. She researches the ecology, bioacoustics, and conservation of our native Hawaiian forests, birds, and bats.
See stories by Ann Tanimoto-Johnson
Savannah Harriman-Pote
Savannah Harriman-Pote is the energy and climate change reporter. She is also the lead producer of HPR's "This Is Our Hawaiʻi" podcast. Contact her at sharrimanpote@hawaiipublicradio.org.
See stories by Savannah Harriman-Pote
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