Ortygornis sephaena
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The crested francolin (Ortygornis sephaena) is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is found in southern Africa. One of its subspecies, Ortygornis sephaena rovuma, is sometimes considered a separate species, Kirk's francolin.
Formerly, the crested francolin was classified in its own genus Dendroperdix, but phylogenetic analysis indicates that it groups with the grey francolin (O. pondicerianus) and swamp francolin (O. gularis). As a result, all three species were reclassified into the genus Ortygornis.
Ortygornis sephaena zambesiae (Mackworth-Praed, 1920) Crested Francolin - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds Wikipedia →
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Crested Francolin sighting in Mombasa on a given day, based on 22 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 96th most-seen of the 146 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Crested Francolin in Mombasa on a given day, against under 5% in March, the lowest month. Those are among Mombasa's driest months, with about 30 mm of rain a month against 220 mm in May.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Crested Francolin sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 3 cities where we can rate Crested Francolin sightings, Mombasa has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Pretoria (South Africa, under 5%) and Kampala (Uganda, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Crested Francolin is recorded against all the birds logged in Mombasa (22 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
