This spurfowl lives on the forest floor in India. The male is mainly rufous, while the female has more dark mottling, and both search among leaf litter for seeds, fruit, and insects.
The male has a grey head and neck and rufous plumage with white scaling. The female has a grey head, brown upperparts mottled with black, and rufous underparts with dark bars. Both sexes have red facial skin and red legs.
Red Spurfowl inhabit Indian forests and hills. Males have red bare skin around the eyes and pointed leg spurs. They use rocky areas with grass and shrubs, and occur in groups containing adults and chicks as well as in pairs. Tall grass and low vegetation provide cover.
A 2016 paper described groups in Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan. Researchers walked the sanctuary’s forests between July 2013 and June 2015, using binoculars and cameras. They studied the local Red Spurfowl population alongside Grey Junglefowl.
One summer Red Spurfowl group behind scrub contained two males, five females and four chicks: eleven birds in all. It was in hillside forest with tall trees and grassy patches. Elsewhere, two birds were recorded on a forest trail among grass and shrubs. Groups of different sizes occurred within the sanctuary.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The 2016 Kumbhalgarh study proposed improving habitat inside the sanctuary, maintaining feeding opportunities and cover so birds would be less likely to move close to settlements where hunting risk could increase. Its local management recommendations included the grasses and shrubs beneath the trees.