The guineafowl (sometimes called guineahen) are a family of birds in the same order as the pheasants, turkeys and other game birds and is native to Africa. This is a family of insect and seed-eating, ground-nesting birds resembling partridges, but with featherless heads and spangled grey plumage. At least three of the species are poorly studied. The Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) is the best known of the guineafowl bird family, Numididae, and the only member of the genus Numida. It breeds in Africa, mainly south of the Sahara, and has been widely introduced into the West Indies and southern France. It breeds in warm, fairly dry and open habitats with scattered shrubs and trees such as savanna or farmland. It lays its large clutch of 20-30 eggs in a well-hidden lined scrape, and the females incubate the eggs for 26-28 days. The chicks are cryptically coloured and rapid wing growth enables them to flutter onto low branches barely a week after hatching. These guineafowl live as long as 12 years in the wild.