Bird Watch: State bird of Haryana, black francolin was once most hunted
Black francolin is a sensitive bird alerted merely by a strange voice and it prefers to stay in thick vegetation and cultivation areas.
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Black Francolin. (Express Photo) Black francolin (Francolinus francolinus), also known as black partridge and kala titter in Hindi, is the state bird of Haryana and was once among the most hunted birds. The hunting and keeping of this bird have been prohibited since the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, came into effect.
It is a resident bird in the interstate Chandigarh region that prefers to stay in thick vegetation and cultivation areas as standing crops provide it with adequate shelter and enough space to escape when any threat lurks. The bird flies only when threatened or disturbed. That said, it is a sensitive bird alerted merely by a strange voice.
The bird’s overall body length ranges from 33 cm to 36 cm. The peripheral areas in the Tricity where agricultural land is abundant, and hilly areas, such as Morni, Kasauli and Chakki Mod, are ideal places to observe this bird.
The male is black with a white patch on the cheek, a chestnut collar and white spots on the flanks. The back and wings are scalloped with shades of golden brown with sub-terminal tawny-buff bands and pale edges. The rounded tail is black with narrow white or greyish bars. The legs and neck are reddish-brown to red. The extent of the white spotting on the flanks varies substantially across the species’ range, and the depth of colour of the females similarly varies.
The female is mainly brown but has a chestnut hind neck. The head is curved with brown irises, brown crown and black throat. The upper plumage, wings and tail are as in the male, but the black is replaced by mottled brown, and the brown bars on the lower back and tail are wider.
The female is duller, with no cheek patch, and the collar is replaced with a nuchal patch. The head and underparts are buff where the male shows black. The rump and upper tail coverts are light brown.
Grey francolin has a grey-brown and buff body, buff instead of black throat, and lacks the rufous collar. The call of the black francolin, described as a loud ringing “klik cheek-cheek-cheerakik”, “kik-kik-kik” or “kwee-kweeeee-kwee”, can be heard in the mornings and evenings and almost all day during the breeding season.
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