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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing guinea fowl. There are approximately half a dozen guinea fowl species. Their common name comes from Guinea on the west coast of Africa. These birds are native to sub-saharan Africa including Madagascar and other oceanic islands but some species, such as the helmeted guinea fowl, have been introduced outside of their range to be used as food and pets. For this reason, these birds are also present in the Americas, Australia, India, and many more countries.

While these birds tend to stay on the ground and are capable of walking nearly 10 miles (16 km) in a single day, they’re strong fliers with thick breast muscles– lending to the consumption of their meat by humans. They inhabit grasslands such as savannahs with bushes for hiding and trees for roosting. Guinea fowls live in small flocks, and they roost in trees as a group at night. They're often called “watchdogs.” Both in the wild and on farms, guinea fowls are an early warning system to danger.

These birds are skittish. They'll sound the alarm when even the slightest threat has made them uneasy. Here’s what they sound like: (audio) Other animals, such as monkeys, follow them in the wild for their danger sense, and, in turn, the birds also follow monkeys and herding animals for food.

Guinea fowls eat from the ground. They ingest seeds, flowers, insects, and whatever else they can find laying around such as fruit fallen from the forest canopy and dropped by monkeys. They’ll even hunt snakes, frogs, lizards, and gobble up snails, worms, and spiders. Guinea fowls also eat ticks which helps prevent the spread of lyme disease.

These birds often travel in groups of up to 30 members. Males and females look similar as they both display both bald heads and neutrally colored feathers with white spots. There are also facial wattles present in both sexes, though these may be slightly more noticeable in males. Guinea fowls average about 20 inches (50 cm) in length and 3 pounds (1.4 kg) in weight.

Guinea fowls form pairs and disperse their groups during mating season which occurs right after the heaviest rains of the year. They're considered monogamous at least through the season but may be consecutively over multiple years, as well. Their nests are hidden in tall grass and the female lays upwards of 30 small eggs though a dozen or fewer is more common. These take just under a month to incubate and the babies, called keets, follow their mother soon after birth. They're precocious, and can flutter up into tree branches within a week of hatching. Their small size, however, makes them susceptible to cold and dampness.

Guinea fowl hens are not considered great mothers as they’ll abandon their keets in fear. Their fathers, however, help to raise the keets and this ensures more survive to adolescence. Unfortunately, some predators can sneak past these birds' alarm calls such as hawks, owls, foxes, jackals, and more. Guinea fowls also face hunting by humans and habitat loss. Some farm raised guinea fowl are kept in places where they can intermingle with wild individuals, so the wild guineas may be taken to the butcher in a case of mistaken identity with captive individuals. If they can avoid these threats, guinea fowls can live to be 15 years old!

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