This ground-dwelling gamebird uses Tanzanian savannas and grassland. Its red bill, orange-red bare throat, and black-and-white facial pattern are conspicuous.
Adults have a red bill, orange-red bare throat and eye skin, black-and-white facial stripes, and a finely streaked grey and chestnut body.
The Grey-breasted Spurfowl inhabits grassland and savanna in Tanzania. Its throat has exposed coloured skin, a conspicuous feature involved in courtship.
A study published in 2023 compared seasonal photographs of four spurfowl species, scoring 836 throat images in total into four colour-intensity classes. Male colour intensity correlated with monthly rainfall in three species, including the Grey-breasted Spurfowl.
The paper interprets saturated male throat colours as courtship ornaments in those three species. It also proposes that a bare throat’s role in heat regulation acquired an additional mating function, linking temperature and reproduction as an evolutionary hypothesis.
IUCN Red List (BirdLife listing) · Least Concern · Global
BirdLife’s 2024 assessment lists the Grey-breasted Spurfowl as globally Least Concern, while suspecting decline through habitat loss and human encroachment. Retaining grassland and savanna habitat within its Tanzanian range is a conservation concern.