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Helmeted Guineafowl

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

               iHelmeted Guineafowl

                             Conservation status

   Least Concern (LC)
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Galliformes
   Family:  Numididae
   Genus:   Numida
            Linnaeus, 1766
   Species: N. meleagris

                                Binomial name

   Numida meleagris
   Linnaeus, 1758

   The Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) is the best known of the
   guineafowl bird family, Numididae, and the only member of the genus
   Numida. It breeds in Africa, mainly south of the Sahara, and has been
   widely introduced into the West Indies and southern France.

   It breeds in warm, fairly dry and open habitats with scattered shrubs
   and trees such as savanna or farmland. It lays its large clutch of
   20-30 eggs in a well-hidden lined scrape, and the females incubate the
   eggs for 26-28 days. These guineafowl live as long as 12 years in the
   wild.

   The Helmeted Guineafowl is a large (53-58 cm) bird with a round body
   and small head. They weigh about 1.3 kg. The body plumage is gray-black
   spangled with white. Like other guineafowl, this species has an
   unfeathered head, in this case decorated with a dull yellow or reddish
   bony knob, and red and blue patches of skin. The wings are short and
   rounded, and the tail is also short.

   This is a gregarious species, forming flocks outside the breeding
   season typically of about 25 birds. Its diet consists of seeds and
   small invertebrates. GuineaFowl are particularly well suited to
   consuming massive quantities of lyme disease carrying ticks. This
   guineafowl is terrestrial, and are more prone to run rather than fly
   when alarmed. They are, however, very agile and powerful flyers.
   Helmeted Guineafowl are great runners, and can run 5 km in a day. It
   makes loud harsh calls when disturbed. Their diet consists of a variety
   of animal and plant food; seeds, berries, greens, small snails,
   spiders, and insects.

   In the early days of the European colonisation of North America, the
   native Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) was confused with this
   species. This led to the English name of the American bird, since
   Turkey and Guinea were equally far-off and exotic places. The word
   meleagris, Greek for guineafowl, is also shared in the scientific names
   of the two species, although for the guineafowl it is the species name,
   whereas for the turkey, it is the name of the genus and (in an altered
   state) the family.

Domestication

   Helmeted Guineafowl is often domesticated, and it is this species that
   is sold in Western supermarkets.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmeted_Guineafowl"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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