Critically Endangered
Djibouti spurfowl
Pternistis ochropectus
Djibouti spurfowl is critically endangered and found only in Djibouti, a nation in the Horn of Africa.
Appearance
It is grayish-brown overall with white stripes and streaks on its underparts that become finer toward the head. The nape has a hint of rufous, while the top of the head is gray. The feathers on the body and neck have a gold or straw-colored center that is bordered with dark brown and edged in white.
This spurfowl is a large, rotund bird of approximately 35 cm (1.15 ft) in length and 940 g (33 oz) in weight.
Range and habitat
The Djibouti spurfowl is endemic to Djibouti, a nation in eastern Africa, and is known from only two locations. One is the Forêt du Day in the Goda Mountains, approximately 25 km (16 mi) north of the Gulf of Tadjoura. This site is only 15 km2 (3,700 acres) and is undergoing habitat changes.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
It is believed that the spurfowl may migrate from lower altitudes to higher altitudes and juniper forest in the warmer months. It is monogamous and breeds between December and February.
Only one nest has been recorded. This was located on a mountain ledge, and was a shallow grass-lined depression in the earth. It is known to feed on berries, seeds, and termites, and it breeds between December and February.
In crisis
It is critically endangered and found only in Djibouti, a nation in the Horn of Africa. It is considered a critically endangered species because it underwent a 90% population decline in twenty years. The degrading of its juniper habitat through man-made disturbances, such as overgrazing, is a major threat to the spurfowl's survival.
This species is considered critically endangered by the IUCN because it underwent a 90% population decrease over twenty years. In 1977, there were an estimated 5600 birds in Forêt du Day, that was the only known location for the species at the time.
Djibouti spurfowl is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Djibouti spurfowl, Wikidata item Q27074577. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
