Congo Peafowl

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iCongo Peafowl

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Genus:	Afropavo
Species:	A. congensis

Binomial name

Afropavo congensis
Chapin, 1936

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

The male is a large bird, up to 70cm long, deep blue with a metallic green and violet tinge. It has bare red neck skin, grey feet, a black tail with fourteen feathers and the head adorned with vertical white elongated hair-like feathers on its crown. The female is generally a chestnut brown bird with 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 species.

It inhabits and is endemic to lowland rainforests of Congo River Basin in central 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. Male is monogamous, though information from the wild needed.

Very little is known about this species, seeing as 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 lost, small population and hunted in some areas, the Congo Peafowl is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

[edit] Gallery

Male	Female at the Milwaukee County Zoological Gardens

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2006). Afropavo congensis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is vulnerable