Ortygornis pondicerianus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The grey francolin (Ortygornis pondicerianus) is a species of francolin found in the plains and drier parts of the Indian subcontinent and Iran. This species was formerly also called the grey partridge, not to be confused with the European grey partridge. They are mainly ground-living birds and are found in open cultivated lands as well as scrub forest and their local name of teetar is based on their calls, a loud and repeated Ka-tee-tar...tee-tar, which is produced by one or more birds. The term teetar can also refer to other partridges and quails. During the breeding season, calling males attract challengers, and decoys were used to trap these birds especially for fighting.
The grey francolin was formally described in 1789 by German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the grouse-like birds in the genus Tetrao and coined the binomial name Tetrao pondicerianus. Gmelin based his description on "Le perdix de Pondichéry" that had been described in 1782 by French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat in his Voyage aux Indes orientales et a la Chine. The grey francolin was formerly placed in... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Gir National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 11 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nandankanan Zoological Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Virginia Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Paphos Zoo | 🇨🇾 Cyprus | |
| 4 | Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 5 | Zoo Koki (Parque zoológico y botánico) | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 6 | Edward Youde Aviary | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China | |
| 7 | Thrissur Zoo | 🇮🇳 India |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Grey Francolin sighting in Nagarhole National Park on a given day, based on 238 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 100th most-seen of the 272 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May, August, October and December–January
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Grey Francolin in Nagarhole National Park on a given day, against about 10% in February–April, June–July, September and November, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Grey Francolin sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
8th of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate Grey Francolin sightings, Nagarhole National Park ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Ranthambore National Park (India, about 60%), Keoladeo National Park (India, about 60%) and Gir National Park (India, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Phasianidae
The closest relatives of the Grey Francolin that you can see in Nagarhole National Park (family Phasianidae, Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies) are Common Peafowl (about 70%), Grey Junglefowl (about 50%) and Red Spurfowl (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Grey Francolin is recorded against all the birds logged in Nagarhole National Park (238 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.
