Pheasants
Phasianidae
INDEX
WHAT ARE PHEASANTS?
PHEASANT FEATURES
SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AND REPRODUCTION
PHEASANTS OF ARDASTRA
WHAT ARE PHEASANTS?
Pheasants are a group of birds that are part of a larger group known as the "Game birds" or chicken-like birds (Galliformes). The game birds are a very large and diverse group of birds which are seperated into four smaller groups:
- Turkeys - (Meleagrididae)
- Guinea fowl - (Munididae)
- Fowl, pheasants and quail - (Phasianidae)
- Grouse - (Tetraonidae)
There are about 50 species of Pheasants. Practically all of them are native to Central Asia, Ukraine, and China. They have been introduced and widely established in various areas. Romans were responsible for bringing Pheasants into Europe. According to mythology, Argonauts took them from the river Phasis in Colchis. Egyptian Pharaohs kept Pheasants, Alexander the Great brought them to Greece from Asia. Some species first came into North America and then to Europe. At present, Pheasants are found in a variety of habitats from the snowy Himalayas to the jungles of Indonesia.
This group includes birds such as the peacocks and the most common bird in the world - the chicken.
PHEASANT FEATURES
Like all game birds, pheasants have beaks that are short, heavy and down curved, good for pecking the ground. Often ground dwellers, these birds tend to be heavy with short legs, their wings tend to be short and rounded, not good for very long flight but sufficient if they need to flee from a predator or get to the top of trees. Game birds also have "spurs" at the back of their foot. These spurs are used during combat between males competing for a mate, but confrontations rarely result in injury.
Pheasants tend to have strong sexual dimorphism (difference between the males and females). The males tend to be brilliantly colored, so much so that for a long time European naturalists simply dismissed paintings made by chinese artists as figments of their imagination. In contrast, the females tend to be better camouflaged to their surroundings, often brown in color as they tend to nest on the ground.
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SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AND REPRODUCTION
There is an interesting variation of social organisation within this family. The smaller quails tend to be social and monogamous, whereas the larger pheasants tend to be polygymous (one male mating with several females) and many are solitary.
Among the larger pheasants, the courtships involve a long and spectacular display. In the forests of asia, one would hardly be aware of the pheasants living in the forest until breeding season (usually spring time) when the males begin their rituals and deafening calls.
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PHEASANTS OF ARDASTRA
Ardastra gardens has several types of pheasants.
Blue peacock - Pavo cristatus
There are three types of pheasants that are considered "peafowl".
- Blue peacock - Pavo cristatus - the most well known and most spectacular of the peafowl.
- Green peacock - Pavo muticus - seperated into three sub-species this bird is found in South-east Asia and is also a spectacualar looking bird.
- Congo peacock - Afropavo congoensis - an African peafowl which was only recently seen by western researchers in the wild, is considered the most allusive bird in the world.
The Blue peacock is also known as the Indian or Common peafowl. It is the national bird of India but is also native to Pakistan and Sri Lanka. For centries, it has been kept in captivity and has been reported in ancient Egyptian, Roman and Greek history. Today it has been introduced to many regions throughout the world and there is even a ferel population living on islands in the Exumas, Bahamas.
Although the blue peacock is considered monotypic, one representive of the species, there are many mutations that have occured and "encouraged" through selective breeding throughout history. The most common mutation is the white peacock. This is not an albino (where the body is unable to produce pigment) but rather a color mutation. This mutation however, is recessive, meaning that it needs to be present in both the male and the female if it is to show up in the young.
Collectively known as peafowl; the male, female and chicks are refered to as the peacock, peahen and peachick respectively. The peahens are excellent mothers, rearing about 4-6 chicks each year. The peachicks will follow their mother for many months, learning what is good to eat and how to find it. Like most pheasants, the peachicks give out a characteristic "pee pee" sound, to which the mother replies "cluck cluck". This sound was the inspiration behind the old Jamaican saying "pee pee cluck cluck" indicative of a copycat.
However, the blue peacock is best known for the extravagant tail of the male which he parades to attract a females attention.
Below is an example of the courtship "dance" of the blue peacock.
Once breeding season is over, the peacock actually loses its long tail feathers and will spend the rest of the year growing them back.
Silver pheasant - Lophura nycthemerus
The Silver pheasant is found in mountainous terrain with dense tree or bamboo growth of Southern China, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. They are general feeders, eating fruits, seeds, young plant shoots, insects, worms, small reptiles, tubers and bulbs. Usually they stay in small groups of about one male to about 5 females (brown colored) and remain together year round. During the breeding season the males become very territorial and aggressive, displaying with whistles and rapid wing beating. During this time each hen will prepare her own nest and the male simply patrols the nesting area of all his females. After the chicks are about 2 weeks old, the flock regroups again. The male will take full responsibility of the chicks if the hen is lost.
Lesser Bornean crested fireback pheasant - Lophura ignita ignita
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Near threatened species
The Crested Fireback pheasants include four different sub-species which are all found in the tropical rainforest regions of Thailand, Malaya, Sumatra and Borneo. The nominate form being the Lesser Bornean Crested Fireback, is native to Southern Borneo. Like most firebacks these are very striking birds, particularly the males with their cobalt blue faces and dark metallic blue plumage. Unlike most other pheasants of their size, the bornean crested firebacks are not polygamous and are found living in pairs. Due to habitat destruction these pheasants are labeled under Appendix III as a near threatened species.
Malayan crestless fireback pheasant - Lophura erythrophthalma erythrophthalma
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Vulnerable species
There are two sub-species of the Crestless firebacks, all of which are found in the tropical rainforests of the Malayan peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. The sub-species housed in Ardastra Gardens is the sub-species that is mostly found in the Malay Peninsula. These crestless firebacks are also very striking birds but are not very common in captivity. Also due to habitat loss the numbers in the wild are beginning to dwindle and are currently labeled as a Vulnerable species in Cites appendix III.
Satyr Tragopan - Tragopan satyra
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Near threatened species
There are 5 distinct species of Tragopans all of which are very striking birds. Tragopans are forest birds and are among the few pheasants to actually nest in the trees (arboreal). The Satyr Tragopan is found in the forests of the Central and Eastern Himalayan mountains at about 8, 000 and 14, 000 feet in summer and about 6, 000 feet above sea level in the winter. This tragopan is listed as a near threatened species. There are less than 20, 000 birds left in the wild but these populations have been fragmented and are affected by habitat loss as the forests are harvested for fuel. They are also the target of hunting and the pet trade regardless of their protected status in some regions.
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