Green Peafowl

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Green Peafowl
Pavo muticus imperator
Conservation status
Vulnerable
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Galliformes Family: Phasianidae Genus: Pavo Species: P. muticus
Binomial name
Pavo muticus Linnaeus, 1766
Subspecies
P. m. muticus Linnaeus, 1766 P. m. spicifer Shaw, 1804 P. m. imperator Delacour, 1949

The Green Peafowl, Pavo muticus is a large member of the Galliformes order that is found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia.

Contents 1 Description 2 Distribution and habitat 3 Classification 4 Behaviour 5 Status 6 Gallery 7 Media 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Description

The male Green Peafowl has a tall spike-like crest unlike the fan found in the male Indian Peafowl.^[1] Only the male has a "train" with the tail covert feathers having large dark blue and turquoise centered coppery ocelli.^[1] The male has light blue facial skin with a yellow crescent near the ear, and bronzy green neck feathers (rather than blue). The female is much duller and lacks the train.^[1]

The males of the mainland races are bluish-green, imperator has a metallic-green neck. The breast, wing-coverts are blue and the outer webs of secondaries are blue-green in imperator. Race spicifer has a duller and bluer neck and breast with more extensively black wing-coverts and outer web of secondaries; Nominate muticus is more golden-green with less blue on the neck and breast. Considerable variation exists in plumage of neck and breast which may be linked with age and sex.^[2]

The male of some forms^{[citation needed]} of Green Peafowl has 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.^[3] Some forms of Green Peafowl have divergent trachea morphology and this has an impact on their voices.^{[citation needed]}

The Indian Peafowl has a much louder voice than all but the imperator because of the special apparatus that accentuate volume. The Arakan spicifer has no such apparatus and as such is much quieter. Green Peafowl are noted ventriloquists however and make many low vibrational vocalizations and even piercing whistle-like shrieks in some forms.^{[citation needed]}

Green Peafowl are large birds, the largest galliform on earth in terms of overall length and wingspan, though rather lighter-bodied than the Wild Turkey. The male grows up to 3 meters (10 feet) long, including the "train" and weighs up to 5 kg (12 lbs). The female is 1.1 meter (3.5 feet) long and weighs about 1.1 kg (2.4 lbs). It has large wingspan and Green Peafowl is unusual amongst Galliform birds in their capacity for sustained flight. They are documented flying over the ocean to roost on islets off the coast of Java and on islands in large lakes in Yunnan.^{[citation needed]} Some of the islets and islands are more than fifteen miles from shore.

[edit] Distribution and habitat

The Green Peafowl was widely distributed in Southeast Asia in the past from northern Myanmar and southern China, extending through Laos, Thailand into Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and the islands of Java. The ranges have reduced with habitat destruction and hunting.^[3]

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.^[4] Proximity to water appears to be an important factor.^[5]

[edit] Classification

The species is classified into three subspecies: P. m. muticus (nominate), P. m. imperator and P. m. spicifer.^[6][7] Some authors suggest that the race found in Yunnan may be distinct.^[8]

Race muticus was known from Malay peninsula from the northern part extending south to Kedah.^[3] Race imperator is known from the lowland forests of northern and eastern Thaliand.^[3] Race spicifer is distributed in northwestern Burma.^[2] While peafowl are often considered members of the pheasant family, recent molecular work has shown that the Phasianidae is paraphyletic, and that peafowl are not closely related to pheasants, grouse or turkeys. They are distantly related to junglefowl and francolins however, and share a common ancestor with Coturnix quail and Alectoris Rock Partridges. While this has yet to be published, the World Pheasant Association of Germany already lists peafowl as a distinct family [2].^{[citation needed]}

Like other members of the genus Pavo, Green Peafowl is a colourful bird. Iridescent plumage may be a highly specialized form of crypsis that is useful in open forests and near water. Most predatory species like leopards and tigers, wild dogs, civets, owls and hawk-eagles that have been documented hunting peafowl do not have colour vision.^{[citation needed]}

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 curiously absent from both Sumatra and Borneo.^{[citation needed]} Records from northeastern India have been questioned and old records are possibly of feral birds.^[1]

[edit] Behaviour

The Green Peafowl is a forest bird which nests on the ground laying 3 to 6 eggs.^[9]

The male has often been described as being polygynous, with no parental responsibilities whatsoever. He is also described as being very solitary, trying to mate with every female that enters his territory. The females are said to belong in harems, foraging with each other.^{[citation needed]}

However, these are only presuppositions based upon the behaviors of captive or semi-captive Indian Peafowl (not Green Peafowl) which are facultatively polygynous and from observations of highly territorial male Green Peafowl guarding nest sites (which researchers may suppose that he is guarding multiple mates), and with both these notions combined it creates a misleading supposition that Green Peafowl are polygamous.^{[citation needed]}

In fact, some researchers, such as K. B. Woods (in litt. 2000),^{[citation needed]} believe that the Green Peafowls are monogamous in the wild. They believe that the male guards the nest for the entire period that it is being used, including the time before actual incubation begins. The male also guards over the chicks after hatching and that he will often take the chicks under his wings on the nocturnal roost. While the female is incubating or still in the process of creating a clutch, the male stands or perches within sight of the nest site. He is called a Dragonbird by natives because of his propensity to attack any animal, large or small that comes anywhere near the nest site.^{[citation needed]}

They usually spend time on the ground but roost in trees at a height of 10-15m.^[3] The diet consists mainly of seeds, insects, reptiles, fruits and small animals. As with other members of its genus, the Green Peafowl can even hunt venomous snakes, making them useful for pest control.

[edit] Status

Due to hunting and a reduction in extent and quality of habitat, the Green Peafowl is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES. The world population has declined rapidly and the species no longer occurs in many areas of its past distribution. The population in the wild was estimated to be about 5,000 to 10,000 individuals around 1995.^[3]

Hybridisation with the Indian Peafowl may also be a cause for the decline of the Green Peafowl, damaging the gene stock of captive birds. Certain birds both in the wild^{[citation needed]} and captivity which are thought to be pure Green Peafowl are really hybrids, known by some as "spauldings" or "spaldings".^{[citation needed]} Additionally, the subspecies of Green Peafowl have also been heavily mixed in captivity.

Although all subspecies are declining, P. m. spicifer and P. m. imperator are not declining as much as P. m. muticus. Some breeders mistakingly say that the race spicifer is extinct, although this is not true. Nonetheless, this subspecies is also declining rapidly. The race/group imperator may still be common (though declining) in isolated parts of its range.^{[citation needed]}

The nominate race supposedly^{[citation needed]} lived in Malaysia, as well as the Isthmus of Kra, but had became extinct in the 1960s.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, The Star reported that successful reintroductions were being made in Malaysia by the World Pheasant Association (WPA).^{[10][citation needed]}

However, the reintroductions have not been without controversy. The publication stated that the Javan and Malay form were genetically identical, which has been widely accepted by the scientific community. However, some do not believe the forms are identical; more recent genetic work confirms this.^{[citation needed]} Because of the notion that the two forms were not identical there are concerns that the wrong form of Green Peafowl was introduced. Another statement by certain publications is that the birds introduced were the nominate muticus. Photos and video footage of some of the reintroduced birds in Malaysia[3][4] have been identified as spicifer[5]. However, the DNA of the introduced stock of spicifer matched that of old museum skins in Malaysia, confirming the birds introduced were native to the area.

[edit] Gallery

Male	female	Hybrid between imperator and spicifer, at Bronx Zoo
	Malaysian Pavo muticus muticus at Ueno Zoo	Pavo muticus imperator at Taipei Zoo

[edit] Media

[edit] See also

• Peafowl
• Congo Peafowl
• Indian Peafowl

[edit] References

• Kimball, Rebecca T., Edward L. Braun, and J. David Ligon (1997). Resolution of the Phylogenetic Position of the Congo Peafowl, Afropavo congensis: A Biogeographic and Evolutionary Enigma. Proceedings: Biological Sciences, vol. 264 (1387), pp. 1517-1523

• van Balen, S., Prawiradilaga, D. M. and Indrawan, M. (1995) The distribution and status of Green Peafowl in Java. Biol. Conserv. 71: 289-297.
• Indrawan, M. (1995) Behaviour and abundance of Green Peafowl in Baluran National Park, East Jawa. MSc thesis, Zool. Dept., University of Aberdeen, U.K.
• Delacour, J. (1977) Pheasants of the world, 2nd edition. Spur Publications, Hindhead, U.K.
• Evans, T. D. and Timmins, R. J. (1996) The status of Green Peafowl Pavo muticus in Laos. Forktail 11:11-32.
• Johnsgard, P. A. (1986) The pheasants of the world. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K.

[edit] External links

• BirdLife International (2004). Pavo muticus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 9 November 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is vulnerable
• Arkive images and movies of the Green Peafowl (Pavo muticus)
• BirdLife Species Factsheet
• IUCN Red List
• Red Data Book
• [6]