[2] Hartlaub's spurfowl was described in 1869 by the Portuguese naturalist José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage from a specimen collected in Huíla Province, Angola.

[9] Hartlaub's spurfowl is endemic to southwest Africa, occurring only in northcentral to northwestern Namibia and a small area of southwestern Angola.

Throughout its range, its preferred habitat consists of higher ground, mostly on rocky granite and sandstone outcrops (koppies to locals), surrounded by semidesert steppe.

[11] The red-billed spurfowl (Pternistis adspersus) and the Orange River francolin (Scleroptila gutturalis) occur alongside this species, but they occupy different habitats.

The frequency of use of particular call-sites appears to be influenced more by the presence (vocalizations) of un-mated females on particular boundaries, than by the daily duetting of neighbouring pairs.

However, core ranges and utilization distributions of pairs, and, in particular, the multiple nuclei of different daily activities could only be distinguished by radio-telemetry.

Territorial pairs use antiphonal duets on a daily basis to advertise their presence, and such calling was most frequent shortly after sunrise.

Un-mated females call far more frequently than territorial pairs, often throughout the day, with peaks at shortly after sunrise and before sunset.

Perennial territorial resources (food, traditional call-sites, refuge and suitable nest-sites) are primarily defended by female Hartlaub's francolins.

The pair bond is maintained by ritualised behaviours, including pair-distinct (female initiated) antiphonal duetting and reverse mounting during courtship and incubation.

It is unusual that this sex-role reversed monogamy occurs in a species which is strongly sexually dichromatic and dimorphic, with the males more brightly coloured and somewhat larger than females.

The relatively narrow dietary spectrum of females may be a causative factor in vigorous perennial defence of territorial resources.