Scleroptila gutturalis
Silhouette: Francesco Veronesi (vectorized by T. Michal Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The Orange River francolin (Scleroptila gutturalis) is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae found in grassland and woodland in Africa. In the taxa from the northern part of its distribution (Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and Kenya), the neck-line does not reach the eye and the belly is whitish. In the southern taxa (Angola, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Lesotho) the neck-line reaches the eye and the belly is buff. This has led some authorities to treat them as separate species: The Archer's or acacia francolin (S. gutturalis with subspecies lorti) in the north, and the Orange River francolin (S. levaillantoides with subspecies jugularis) in the south.
Scleroptila gutturalis levalliantoides (Smith, 1836) was made available as levalliantoides. The name is probably misspelled, and can easily be confused with Scleroptila levaillantii. Both are likely named after Francois Levaillant.
Orange River Francolin - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds Orange-river francolin Structured guide to the species in southern Africa Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Orange River Francolin sighting in Kidepo Valley National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 292nd most-seen of the 332 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Orange River Francolin in Kidepo Valley National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July and September–March, the lowest months. Those are among Kidepo Valley National Park's wettest months, with about 100 mm of rain a month against 10 mm in February. April and May have too few records to rate.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Orange River Francolin sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Kidepo Valley National Park, in our data
Kidepo Valley National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Orange River Francolin sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Orange River Francolin is recorded against all the birds logged in Kidepo Valley National Park (7 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
