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Manu Minute

Manu Minute: The black francolin

By Patrick Hart,
Ann Tanimoto-Johnson, Savannah Harriman-Pote
Published December 27, 2023 at 12:52 PM HST
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Black francolins are a little over a foot in length. Males have black heads with a brownish-colored “crown” and white patches below and behind their eyes. Females and juveniles are mostly mottled-brown in color.
Hari K Patibanda
/
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Black francolins are a little over a foot in length. Males have black heads with a brownish-colored “crown” and white patches below and behind their eyes. Females and juveniles are mostly mottled-brown in color.

Next time you're traversing the dry grasslands of North Kona on Hawaiʻi Island, keep an eye out for a black francolin.

This game bird was introduced to Hawaiʻi in 1959. Like the Erckel's francolin, the black francolin spends most of its time on the ground, foraging for insects and seeds.

These birds know how to keep themselves out of sight, but males have a very distinctive set of raspy calls. Listen below!
AMTJ_Manu Minute Black francolin Spectrogram video.mp4

Manu Minute
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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