Guineafowl | Numididae

Parelhoenders | Pintadas

Head and neck are unfeathered and coloured blue, white or red: in the species of open country topped by a horny casque and hung with wattles, in the forest species by a tuft of black curled feathers and with a red eye set in blue skin. The rest of the plumage is slate-grey to black and peppered over almost the whole body with white pearl spots, larger and bluish in the forest species; male and female are marked much alike, which is unusual among gamebirds. They move in tight flocks through savanna, farmland and forest edge, raking open the litter and digging out bulbs, tubers and insects with bill and feet; when disturbed the flock scatters on foot and takes wing only when the distance closes. Towards evening they climb with clattering wings to traditional roost trees, setting up a loud rasping chorus that carries far; the same sound serves as an alarm and often betrays a predator before it can be seen. The clutch lies in a shallow scrape under a grass tuft, the eggshell is thick and hard, and the chicks walk within a day but are highly vulnerable to cold rain.