Comparative population biology of black (Francolinus francolinus) and grey (F. pondicerianus) francolins under Lal Suhanra National Park (Pakistan) conditions

Strip transect (2.5 × 0.04 km2) data on sighting of black francolin and grey francolin was simultaneously collected from 10 francolin favourable habitat stands of the lal suhanra national park (south punjab,pakistan) for two consecutive days in each calendar month (1993-2004). average population densities of black (8.40±1.39 birds/ km2; range 3 - 13/ km2) and grey (6.20±1.52 birds/ km2; range 3 - 10/ km2) was not significantly different (t = 0.5629,df = 159,p > 0.05). significant differences in individual stand densities of two species and a negative correlation (r2 = - 0.333,p > 0.05) indicated habitat exclusion. both the species followed identical pattern of density variations,with minimum populations during winter (november-february) and peak in late summer (july- august),but there was a rapid rise in february-march in black and in july-august in grey francolin. distribution of juveniles in the populations (black: 0.32±0.09 juvenile/ female,0.14±0.03 juvenile/ adult; grey: 0.32±0.07 juvenile/ female,0.15±0.03 juvenile/adult) is not significant different (t= 0.24,df = 14,p = 0.05),suggesting equal breeding potentials. preponderance of males was recorded in black (male/female ratio 1.31,α2 15.42,df = 1,p<0.001) and grey (ratio 1.21,α2 9.14,df 1,p< 0.001). black francolin population exhibited a significant heterogeneity in distribution of sexes in both spatial (α2 20.76,df = 5,p<0.05) and seasonal (α2 21.76,df 10,p<0.05) samples,while heterogeneity was not significant for grey francolin population (stands: α2 13.61,df = 9,p>0.05,seasons: α2 3.36,df = 10,p>0.05). average size of covey was smaller (1.88±0.15,range 1-5) in black compared to grey (1.94±0.18,range 1-7) francolin. black francolin (0.60±0.09) tended more towards a uniform dispersion compared with grey (0.78±0.11). copyright 2013 zoological society of pakistan.