Green Peafowl

The Green Peafowl is a large Galliform bird that is found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia.

Description

The sexes of Green Peafowl are quite similar in appearance, especially in the field. During most of the year, when the males have no visible trains, it is quite difficult to distinguish the sexes. Both sexes have tall pointed crests, and are long-legged, heavy-winged and long-tailed in silhouette. Seen from a distance, they are generally dark coloured birds with pale vermillion or buff coloured primaries which are quite visible in their peculiar flight which has been described as a true flapping flight with little gliding that one associates with Galliform birds.

The males of the subspecies imperator and spicifer are overall bluish-green, the former having a metallic-green breast, neck, wing-coverts and outer webs of secondaries, whereas the latter has a duller, bluer breast and neck, and more black on the wing-coverts and outer web of secondaries. Compared to these, Nominate muticus is overall more golden-green and has less blue on the neck and breast. Considerable variation exists in plumage of neck and breast which may be linked with age and sex.

The male of the Green Peafowl have a loud call of ki-wao, which is often repeated. The female has a loud aow-aa call with an emphasis on the first syllable. The males call from their roost sites at dawn and dusk.

Green Peafowl are large birds, one of the largest living Galliforms in terms of overall length and wingspan, though rather lighter-bodied than the Wild Turkey. The male grows up to 3 meters (10 ft) long, including the "train" and weighs up to 5 kg (11 lbs). The female is 1.1 meter (3.5 ft) long and weighs about 1.1 kg (2.4 lbs). It has large wingspan of approximately 1.2 m (4 ft). Unlike Indian Peafowl, the Green Peafowl is a better flier and capable of sustained flight.

Distribution and habitat

The Green Peafowl was widely distributed in Southeast Asia in the past from northern Myanmar and southern China, extending through Laos, and Thailand into Vietnam, Cambodia, Peninsular Malaysia and the islands of Java. The ranges have reduced with habitat destruction and hunting. They are now a protected species of India.

Green Peafowls are found in a wide range of habitats including primary and secondary forest, both tropical and subtropical, as well as evergreen and deciduous. They may also be found amongst bamboo, on grasslands, savannas, scrub and farmland edge. In Vietnam, the preferred habitat was found to be dry deciduous forest close to water and away from human disturbance. Proximity to water appears to be an important factor.

Classification

Following the advice of his Hong Kong bird dealer, World Pheasant Association founder and ornithologist, Jean Delacour recognized three races of Green Peafowl. Today most authorities recognize these three:

• P. m. muticus (nominate). Found in Java. Was also known from the Malay Peninsula from the northern part extending south to Kedah.
• P. m. imperator. From Burma to Thailand, southern China and Indochina.
• P. m. spicifer. Found in northwestern Burma. Formerly also north-eastern India and Bangladesh.

Some authors have suggested that the population found in Yunnan may be yet another race.

Green Peafowls are found today in Southeast Asia in mainland Burma, Yunnan, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and on the island of Java in Indonesia. They are absent from both Sumatra and Borneo. Records from northeastern India have been questioned and old records are possibly of feral birds.

Behaviour

The Green Peafowl is a forest bird which nests on the ground laying 3 to 6 eggs.

It has been widely believed without quantification that the Green Peafowl is polygynous, the male having no parental responsibilities whatsoever.

However, the theory that the male is polygynous also conflicts with observations in captivity; pairs left alone with no human interaction have been observed to be strongly monogamous. The close similarity between both sexes also suggests a different breeding system in contrast to that of the Indian Peafowl. Thus, some authors have suggested that the harems seen in the field are juvenile birds and that males are not promiscuous.

They usually spend time on or near the ground in tall grasses and sedges. Like other peafowl, the Green Peafowl love to wade and forage for food in the shallows for a good portion of each day. Family units roost in trees at a height of 10–15 m. The diet consists mainly of fruits, invertebrates, reptiles, and other small animals. As with the other member of its genus, the Green Peafowl can even hunt venomous snakes, making them useful for pest control. Ticks and termites, flower petals, buds leaves and berries are favorite foods of adult peafowl. Frogs and other aquatic small animals probably make up the bulk of the diet of growing birds.

Green Peafowl occupy a similar ecological niche as the unrelated Secretary Bird, seriamas, and bustards. That is to say, Green Peafowl hunt for small animals on the ground in tropical savannah. Like these other predatory bird species, Green Peafowl are monogamous and enjoy prolonged relationships with their offspring. All these cursorial hunters display delayed maturity, are long-legged, heavy-winged, with prominent crests and long, broad tails.

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Indian Peafowl

The Indian Peafowl also known as the Common Peafowl or the Blue Peafowl, is one of two species of bird in the genus Pavo of the Phasianidae family known as peafowl. The peacock is the national bird of India and the provincial bird of the Punjab (Pakistan).

Distribution and habitat

The Indian Peafowl is a resident breeder in the Indian subcontinent and has been introduced into many parts of the world; feral populations exist in many countries.

The species is found in dry semi-desert grasslands, scrub and deciduous forests. It forages and nests on the ground but roosts in trees.

Description

Females are about 86 cm (34 in) long and weigh 2.75–4 kg (6-8.8 lbs), while males average at about 2.12 m (7.3 ft) in full breeding plumage (107 cm/42 in when not) and weigh 4–6 kg (8.8-13.2 lbs). The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen. The Indian Peacock has iridescent blue-green plumage. The upper tail coverts on its back are elongated and ornate with an eye at the end of each feather. These are the Peacock's display feathers. The female plumage is a mixture of dull green, grey and iridescent blue, with the greenish-grey predominating. In the breeding season, females stand apart by lacking the long 'tail feathers' also known as train, and in the non-breeding season they can be distinguished from males by the green colour of the neck as opposed to the blue on the males.

Peafowl are most notable for the male's extravagant display feathers which, despite actually growing from their back, are known as a 'tail' or train. This train is in reality not the tail but the enormously elongated upper tail coverts. The tail itself is brown and short as in the peahen. The colours result from the micro-structure of the feathers and the resulting optical phenomena.

The ornate train is believed to be the result of female sexual selection as males raised the feathers into a fan and quiver it as part of courtship display. Many studies have suggested that the quality of train is an honest signal of the condition of males and that peahens select males on the basis of their plumage. More recent studies however, suggest that other cues may be involved in mate selection by peahens.

Behaviour

Breeding

They lay a clutch of 4-8 eggs which take 28 days to hatch. The eggs are light brown and are laid every other day usually in the afternoon. The male does not assist with the rearing, and is polygamous with up to six hens.

Feeding

Peafowl eat seeds, insects, fruits, small mammals and reptiles.

Conservation and status

Hybridisation

The Indian Peafowl can hybridise with the closely related Green Peafowl, Pavo muticus, in captivity and creates offspring called "Spauldings" or "Spaldings". The original "Spalding" was a hybrid between a female of the black-shouldered mutation of the Indian Peafowl, with a male of the nominate Java subspecies of the Green Peafowl, though some believe it was really a cross between a black-shouldered male with a Green Peafowl hen of the subspecies imperator.

Even though there is no natural range overlap, hybridisation occurs in the wild when feral populations of one of the species overlaps another species. Hybridisation has created some concern as the Green Peafowl is endangered.

Poaching

Poaching of peacocks for their feathers and poisoning by feeding on pesticide treated seeds are known threats to wild birds. Methods to identify if feathers have been plucked or have been shed naturally have been developed. Under the law, collection of tail feathers is allowed only when the bird sheds them.

In New Zealand, peafowl have done extremely well to the point of becoming agricultural pests. There are no regulations on hunting or harvesting the birds for food and feathers.

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Congo Peafowl Information

The Congo Peafowl is a species of peafowl. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Afropavo.

The male is a large bird of up to 70 cm (28 in) in length. Its feathers are deep blue with a metallic green and violet tinge. It has bare red neck skin, grey feet, and a black tail with fourteen feathers. Its head is adorned with vertical white elongated hair-like feathers on its crown. The female is generally a chestnut brown bird with a black abdomen, metallic green back, and a short chestnut brown crest. Both sexes resemble immature Asian Peafowl, with early stuffed birds being erroneously classified as such before they were officially discovered as a unique species.

It inhabits and is endemic to lowland rainforests of Congo River Basin in the central part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The diet consists mainly of fruits and invertebrates. The male has a similar display to other peacocks, fanning its tail in this case, while other peacocks fan their upper tail coverts. The male Congo Peafowl is monogamous, though information from the wild is needed.

Very little is known about this species. It was first recorded as a species in 1936 by Dr. James Chapin based on two stuffed specimens at Congo Museum in Belgium. It has characteristics of both the peafowl and the guineafowl, which may indicate that the Congo Peafowl is a link between the two families.

Due to ongoing habitat loss, small population size and hunting in some areas, the Congo Peafowl is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

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