• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Pternistis castaneicollis and P. atrifrons (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously placed in the genus Francolinus and lumped as F. castaneicollis following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	B1ab(i,ii,iii,v)+2ab(i,ii,iii,v)	B1ab(i,ii,iii,v)+2ab(i,ii,iii,v); C2a(i)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2018	Endangered	B1ab(i,ii,iii,v)+2ab(i,ii,iii,v)
2016	Least Concern
2014	Least Concern
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	2,000 km2	medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	456 km2
Number of locations	2-5	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	1000-2499 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2014
Population trend	decreasing	-	inferred	-
Generation length	3.9 years	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: Gedeon et al. (2017) estimated the population size to be 1,100-2,100 mature individuals, which is placed here in the range 1,000-2,499 mature individuals. The species is potentially split into multiple sub-populations and it is likely that the largest sub-population contains fewer than 1,000 mature individuals (especially given the lower end of the potential population size estimate). However, there is insufficient evidence currently to conclude that the largest sub-population is ≤250 mature individuals.

Trend justification: Surveys by Töpfer et al. (2014) and Gedeon et al. (2017) have found the species to be currently scarce, and as such the species has most likely declined from when it was considered common (Macworth-Praed and Grant 1952, Urban and Brown 1971). Given that threats are ongoing, declines are therefore likely to continue. Thus, the species is assessed as undergoing a continuing decline, though there is insufficient evidence to estimate the exact rate.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Ethiopia	extant	native	yes
Kenya	presence uncertain	native

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	major	resident
Altitude	1100 - 2225 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Temperature extremes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Black-fronted Spurfowl Pternistis atrifrons. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/black-fronted-spurfowl-pternistis-atrifrons on 26/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 26/12/2024.