Habitat
Warm, fairly dry and open areas with scattered shrubs and trees, including savanna and farmland. Outside the breeding season form flocks of up to 25.
Introduced to Antigua and Barbuda (B), Bahrain (B) (NB), Cape Verde, Comoros, Cuba (B), Dominican Republic, Madagascar, Mauritius, New Zealand (B), Portugal (B), Puerto Rico (B), Sao Tome e Principe, St Helena (E), St Kitts and Nevis (B), Syrian Arab Republic (E) (B) (NB), USA, Virgin Islands (U.S.) (B) (NB).
Population
Estimated population is 1,000,000 - 2,499,000 (2010).
Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) [XC669997]
by Tony Archer from City of Matlosana (near Hartbeesfontein), Southern DC, North West, South Africa (call)
Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) [XC777366]
by Marc Anderson from Ndutu, Tanzania, Tanzania (song)
Nest
A well-hidden lined scrape.
Eggs (Guide)
20 - 30; . Incubation: about 26-28 days; by female.
Subspecies
Subspecies galeata and mitrata sometimes considered separate species, and less frequently, reichenowi.
Over 30 subspecies described: traditional subspecies marchei, callewaerti and blancoui now included in galeata; major, inermis, omoensis, macroceras, neumanni, toruensis, intermedia and uhehensis included in meleagris; ansorgei included in reichenowi; maxima, frommi, rikwae and bodalyae included in marungensis; papillosa included in damarensis; and transvaalensis and limpopoensis included in coronata.
The following 10 subspecies are recognised:
sabyi Hartert, 1919 - North-western Morocco, between R Oum er Rbia and R Sebou.
galeatus Pallas, 1767 - Western Africa, east to southern Chad and south to central Zaire and northern Angola.
meleagris (Linnaeus, 1758) - Eastern Chad east to Ethiopia, and south to northern Zaire, Uganda and northern Kenya.
somaliensis Neumann, 1899 - North-eastern Ethiopia and Somalia.
reichenowi Ogilvie-Grant, 1894 - Kenya and central Tanzania.
mitratus Pallas, 1767 - Western & eastern Tanzania south to eastern Mozambique, and west through Zambia and Zimbabwe to southern Angola and northern Botswana; Zanzibar and Tumbatu I.
marungensis Schalow, 1884 - Southern Congo Basin south to western Angola, and eastern in Zambezi Basin to Luangwa Valley, Zambia.
damarensis Roberts, 1917 - Southern Angola to Botswana and Namibia.
coronatus Gurney, 1868 - Eastern South Africa.
papillosus Reichenow, 1894 - Southern Angola to Botswana and Namibia.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet