Swamp Francolin

The swamp francolin, or swamp partridge, is a large francolin with comparatively long legs. It is easily told from most Indian partridges by its size, and the sexes look alike, though the male has spurs. The bill is blackish, the eyes dark and the feet dull red. Frank Finn wrote in 1911 that, as its name implies, it lives in a habitat quite different from that of other partridges, in high grass and cane-brakes near the edges of rivers and jheels, though it will come into cultivated ground to feed (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is native to the foothills of the Himalaya in northern India and Nepal, on the alluvial plains of the Ganges and Brahmaputra from Pilibhit to the far end of Assam and Cachar, and it is not found in the Sundarbans. It is considered extinct in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh. Very little is known of its breeding: five cream-coloured, slightly speckled eggs have been taken twice in April. SoIB 2023 rates it a High conservation priority, with a Restricted range of about 33,000 km² and insufficient data on trends (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).