Painted Francolin vs Lesser Prairie-chicken
Francolinus pictus compared with Tympanuchus pallidicinctus
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Painted Francolin | Lesser Prairie-chicken |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Francolinus pictus | Tympanuchus pallidicinctus |
| Order | Galliformes | Galliformes |
| Family | Phasianidae | Phasianidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Vulnerable |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 27.8 cm (10.9 in) | 41.0 cm (16.1 in) |
| Weight | 291.0 g (10.26 oz) | 724.25 g (25.55 oz) |
| Diet | Eats seeds, grain, invertebrates, and plant material; forages in dry grass and scrubby areas of … | Feeds on seeds, berries, grasshoppers, and plant material in shortgrass prairie and shinnery oak of … |
| Clutch Size | 4-8 | 6-14 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Habitat Comparison
Song & Call Comparison
Painted Francolin
Loud, insistent 'ka-TURR-ka' calls from Indian scrub; similar to Black Francolin but slightly higher and less grating. Alarm is rapid cackling cackle. Males call from termite mound or rock at …
Lesser Prairie-chicken
Males boom and gobble on lek: higher-pitched, faster sequence than Greater Prairie-chicken; reddish air sacs vibrate. Display includes cackles and wing-dragging. Alarm is a sharp repeated 'kek'.
Geographic Range & Migration
Painted Francolin
Endemic to India; resident of open scrub, dry grassland, and farmland across most of peninsular India.
Lesser Prairie-chicken
Resident in shinnery oak and sand sagebrush habitat of the southern Great Plains in New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado. Vulnerable.
Conservation Status
Painted Francolin
Lesser Prairie-chicken
How to Tell Them Apart
Painted Francolin
Richly patterned; black above with large white spots; rufous-orange face and throat; white-spotted black flanks; rufous-chestnut underparts with black shaft streaks. Female lacks rufous on face; duller below.
Lesser Prairie-chicken
Barred buff and brown like Greater Prairie-chicken but paler; males have dark pinnae feathers and reddish-pink neck sacs; yellow eye-comb; female lacks pinnae. Paler overall than its larger relative.
About These Birds
Painted Francolin
A small Phasianidae francolin (~291 g) of rocky hillsides, scrub, and dry grassland across peninsular India and Sri Lanka. Both sexes are intricately spotted and streaked in rufous and white. Shy; detected by resonant calls. Feeds on seeds and invertebrates on the ground. Least Concern; common locally.
Lesser Prairie-chicken
A medium-sized grouse (~725 g) of family Phasianidae, paler than Greater Prairie-chicken with crimson-orange air sacs in males. Inhabits arid mixed-grass and shinnery oak prairies in the southern Great Plains of the United States. Feeds on plant matter and invertebrates. Vulnerable; severe population declines due to oil and gas development, overgrazing, drought, and loss of native shrub prairie.