Chinese Francolin Francolinus pintadeanus 中華鷓鴣
Category I. Localised resident in grass-dominated habitats or open-canopy shrubland usually on hillsides. Much declined this century due to succession to closed-canopy habitats .
IDENTIFICATION
Oct. 2017, John and Jemi Holmes.
31-24 cm. An intricately marked game bird, the legs are short, strong and yellowish-orange. As the only galliform of a significant size in HK, it is generally unmistakeable.
The male has a distinctive head pattern comprising a solid black surround to white cheeks and rusty-brown sides to the crown. The neck, mantle, chest and flanks are variably marked with large white spots against a dark background, while the rump and uppertail coverts are narrowly barred in the same fashion.
Jun. 2009, Martin Hale.
The female has a duller head pattern, buff underparts with darker bars and lacks chestnut on the wings.
VOCALISATIONS
The male Chinese Francolin gives it advertising call frequently from March to July, but less frequently at other times of the year, particularly late summer. This call is loud and unmistakeable, often uttered from a prominent rock or the lower branches of a tree and repeated after a pause. Pereira (1934) stated the loud call, rendered as ‘pink-to-too’, is preceded two seconds before by a ‘melodious prelude’. In the recording provided only a slightly nasal ‘hyoo’ note is audible immediately before the main phrase.
Pereira (1934) stated the male also utters ‘kee-yett’ when gliding to attack an adversary, and both male and female utter a repeated ‘quark’ when relaxed, and ‘kok kok kok kok kok’ when alarmed and before taking wing.
DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT PREFERENCE
Chinese Francolin can be fairly common in hilly grassland with scattered shrubs, rocks and/or open pine woodland. Its strongholds remain the grassy hills of the northern and eastern New Territories, and Lantau. This loosely correlates with volcanic and intrusive rock geology rather than the more highly weathered and eroded granitic areas.
During the 1993-96 breeding bird survey, Chinese Francolin was recorded in 29% of squares, but in the 2016-19 survey this figure had reduced to 9%. The same trend was noted in the winter, with records in 1.2% of squares in 2001-05 and only 0.4% in the period 2016-19. With both the more recent surveys only recording Chinese Francolin in a third of the number of squares recorded in the earlier surveys, there appears to have been a substantial decline in distribution and numbers. The decline is presumed to be the result of vegetation succession from grassland through grassland/shrubland to shrubland and forest, a trend relevant to several grassland species in HK.
OCCURRENCE
The highest count is 26 flushed in upland areas between ‘Sheung Chuen’ and ‘Pak Shui’ in two days in November 1935 (Pereira 1935), reflecting the attention to hunting at the time. Since then, the highest count is 19 in a large area from Yung Shue O to Hoi Ha in Sai Kung. Counts of 15 were made in the Discovery Bay area of Lantau on 30 April 1994, in the hills near Chau Tau in April and May 1994 and on Lantau around Man Cheung Po on 20 May 2018. There is no evidence of migration or significant movements away from the breeding areas.
BREEDING
According to Pereira (1934) pairing begins in March or April and involves fierce confrontation between males. The nest is made mainly of grass and dry leaves in a concealed location. Up to eight white or creamy-white eggs are laid in April or early May, with an incubation period of 21 days. Both parents attend to fledged birds, and the species is double-brooded. The chicks remain still at any sign of alarm.
BEHAVIOUR, FORAGING & DIET
Diet and foraging were described by Pereira (1934). Chinese Francolin usually forages in cover in morning and evening, feeding on berries, grains, small reptiles, grasshoppers, ants, insects, larvae and plant shoots. They are fond of berries and (formerly) paddy rice in October and November, though very little rice cultivation now occurs in HK.
More usually seen than heard, Chinese Francolin is rather secretive except in the March to July breeding season when it readily vocalises from a prominent perch. According to Pereira (1934) birds generally retire after morning foraging to a secluded spot to bask and dust bathe, and then to a shady place to preen and oil feathers. Roosting occurs at the place where they are foraging early evening, and birds do not return to the same spot. They are rather inactive in wet weather. Females are notably more secretive than males.
RANGE & SYSTEMATICS
Two subspecies are recognised: the nominate occurs in southeast China and presumably HK, while F. p. phayrei occurs from ne India to south China and Indochina.
Chinese Francolin ranges from extreme northeast India through central Myanmar, northern and central Thailand, Laos and Vietnam to southern China, where it occurs in Yunnan, Guangxi, Hainan, Guangdong and Fujian. It remains common in south China, though both vegetation succession and tree-planting are likely causing a decline.
CONSERVATION STATUS
IUCN: Least Concern. Population trend stable.
Herklots, G. A. C. 1953. Hong Kong Birds. South China Morning Post, Hong Kong.
Pereira, R. A. 1934. Chinese Francolin Francolinus pintadeanus. Hong Kong Naturalist 5: 79-84.
Pereira, R. A. 1935. Shooting Notes. Hong Kong Naturalist 6: 294-295.
