Pternistis hartlaubi
Silhouette: Amanda Kuhlman · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Hartlaub's spurfowl or Hartlaub's francolin (Pternistis hartlaubi) is a species of bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is endemic to the escarpment zone of Namibia and Angola. The common name and Latin binomial commemorate the German physician and ornithologist Gustav Hartlaub.
Hartlaub's spurfowl was described in 1869 by the Portuguese naturalist José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage from a specimen collected in Huíla Province, Angola. He coined the binomial name Francolinus hartlaubi. The species is now placed in the genus Pternistis that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832. The specific epithet hartlaubi was chosen to honour the German physician and ornithologist Gustav Hartlaub. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2019 found that Hartlaub's spurfowl was basal to the other species in the genus. Hartlaub's spurfowl is considered as monotypic: the subspecies ovambensis, bradfieldi and crypticus have been described but are not recognised.
Hartlaub's Spurfowl is the smallest African spurfowl and is highly sexually dimorphic both in plumage and in size. The male is on averages 28 cm (11 in) in length and weighs... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waterberg Plateau Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Hartlaub's Francolin sighting in Waterberg Plateau Park on a given day, based on 20 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 64th most-seen of the 118 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, July–August and November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Hartlaub's Francolin in Waterberg Plateau Park on a given day, against about 10% in February–March, May, September–October and December, the lowest months. April and June have too few records to rate.
Between 5 and 8 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Hartlaub's Francolin sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Waterberg Plateau Park, in our data
Waterberg Plateau Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Hartlaub's Francolin sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Hartlaub's Francolin is recorded against all the birds logged in Waterberg Plateau Park (20 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.
