Guinea Fowl

Guinea fowl are birds of the family Numididae in the order Galliformes, resembling partridges but with distinctively featherless heads, though some species carry crests or downy patches; they are grouped into four genera, Numida, Agelastes, Guttera and Acryllium, and phylogenetically branched off from the core Galliformes after the Cracidae and before the Odontophoridae. They are endemic to Africa and rank among the oldest gallinaceous birds, with an Eocene fossil lineage called Telecrex, found in Mongolia, associated with their ancestry. The helmeted guinea fowl has been introduced as a domesticated bird well beyond Africa, into East Africa, South America, the West Indies, the United States, Britain and India; its meat is moist, firmer and leaner than chicken with a slight gamey flavor, and its eggs are substantially richer than chicken eggs.