• Summary
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Taxonomic note
Scleroptila streptophora (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) was previously placed in the genus Francolinus as F. streptophorus.

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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Near Threatened	A2bcd+3bcd+4bcd; C1
2012	Near Threatened	A2bcd+3bcd+4bcd;C1
2008	Near Threatened	A2b,c,d; A3b,c,d; A4b,c,d; C1
2007	Near Threatened
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	1,930,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	-
Generation length	4.97 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-10	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population has not been quantified, but the species is considered fairly common within its range in Tanzania and northern Uganda (McGowan et al. 2020, J. Bradley in litt. 2024), although there are very few records from Kenya (Kenya Bird Map 2023). Given recent records and the specificity of its habitat, it is thought to be moderately small. More data on the species' population size are needed.

Trend justification: The species was previously described as common to abundant, and recent records suggest it is still well distributed from north-western Uganda down at least to north-western Tanzania (eBird 2023). It is estimated that, in Uganda, where it is likely the majority of the population occurs, ongoing subsistence agriculture encroachment on grasslands will continue into the future (Mwanjalolo et al. 2018). This threat could be currently impacting the species depending on its adaptability to cultivated land. On the other hand, many recent records for this species come from national parks (eBird 2023). Assuming that such networks of protected areas are effectively implemented, it is likely that future declines in such areas will be particularly low, leading to an overall lower risk of extinction for this species. Overall, a past reduction at a slow to moderate rate, and a slow ongoing and future reduction, is suspected, but more data on the species' population trend are needed.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Burundi	extant	native	yes
Cameroon	extant	native	yes
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Rwanda	extant	native	yes
Tanzania	extant	native	yes
Uganda	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Burundi	Ruvubu National Park
Burundi	Rwihinda Lake Managed Nature Reserve
Rwanda	Akagera National Park
Tanzania	Burigi - Biharamulo Game Reserves
Tanzania	Kagera swamps
Uganda	Murchison Falls National Park

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Altitude	600 - 1800 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		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Species factsheet: Ring-necked Francolin Scleroptila streptophora. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/ring-necked-francolin-scleroptila-streptophora on 18/01/2025.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2025) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 18/01/2025.