Bankiva chicken

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Bankiva chicken
Bankiva cock of the subspecies Gallus gallus spadiceus

Bankiva cock of the subspecies Gallus gallus spadiceus

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Chicken birds (Galliformes)
Family : Pheasants (Phasianidae)
Genre : Combed chicken ( Gallus )
Type : Bankiva chicken
Scientific name
Gallus gallus
( Linnaeus , 1758)
Hen of the bankiva chicken
Rooster of the subspecies G. g. murghi
Gallus gallus
Distribution of the bankiva chicken (light brown) and the other comb chicken species. The presumably introduced populations in the Philippines and Sulawesi are obliquely striped. The range of the species overlaps in India with that of the Sonnerathuhn (green) and also includes that of the fork-tailed chicken (dark brown stripes)

The bankiva chicken ( Gallus gallus ) is a species of fowl from the pheasant-like family (Phasianidae). It is the wild ancestral form of the domestic chicken . The bankiva chicken is native to South and Southeast Asia . The distribution extends over large parts of India to southern China and over the Malay Archipelago . The species was introduced in various other regions of the world. For example in the Philippines and many Pacific islands .

The name " Bankiva chicken " comes from the Javanese names Ayam Bankiva , Bengkiwo or Bekikko for this species.

description

The cock of the bankiva chicken is the most colorful of the four grouse species . Hens, on the other hand, have an inconspicuous brown color. In both sexes the area around the eye is featherless. Roosters also have an upright, serrated comb, wattles and - depending on the subspecies, white or red - ear flaps. The neck feathers are pronounced as a long "neck hangings" during the breeding season. The control springs are greatly elongated and bent down in an arc. The tail is pressed together laterally. In males, an approximately 2.5 cm, sometimes up to 5 cm long spur is formed at the rear of the barrel, which is usually missing in females, but can be present in more rare cases. Between June and September the rooster wears a simple, quiet dress. The feathers of the golden neck hangings and the head are replaced with short black ones and the long control feathers are thrown off. The comb is then less pronounced and more dull in color.

The body length of adult cocks is between 65 and 78 cm. Depending on the subspecies, the long tail accounts for between 16.7 and 38 cm. In the nominate form , the tail length is around 27 cm. The wing length is between 203 and 250 mm, the weight is between 672 and 1450 g. Hens are between 41 and 46 cm long with a 14.5 to 16.5 cm long tail and a wing length of 177 to 200 mm. They weigh between 485 and 1050 g.

In the breeding plumage of the nominate form cockerel, the bill is brown with a yellowish horn-colored tip. The iris is orange to red. The comb is especially large and jagged. Like the naked area around the eye and the wattles, it is scarlet. The ear lobes of this subspecies are milk white. The feathers on the top of the head are fiery red. They merge in color with those of the long neck hangings, which are elongated and pointed and fringed. The larger ones are more golden orange with brown shaft stripes. The entire underside is black. The upper back - mostly covered by the neck hangings, the large and medium arm covers and the inner arm wings are iridescent blue-green. The middle back and small arm covers are deep red. The wings of the arm are reddish except for the inner ones, the wings and coverts are blackish brown. The chestnut red of the lower back merges into the fiery orange-red of the lanceolate rump feathers. The upper tail covers and control feathers are metallic black green with a downy white feathered base. The white of the feather bases is often visible on the lower rump as a conspicuous field. Legs and feet are blue-gray to brownish.

In hens, the eye area and throat are featherless and dull red; the bluish-white ear flap is rather small, the crest just a bulging elevation. The beak is horn-brown, the iris orange. The plumage of the skull and neck is reddish in color, the neck feathers are elongated and dark brown with wide, yellow edges. The top is brown with black waves and light shafts. The reddish-brown color of the breast changes to a more yellowish tone towards the abdomen. The under tail-coverts are dark brown. The wings are dark brown with reddish seams, the control feathers are also dark brown and - apart from the outer pair - have reddish brown spots. Legs and feet are blue-gray to brownish, like the rooster.

Young birds resemble hens, but are darker on the underside. Young males show early signs of golden neck hangings and have blackish tail feathers. First year roosters have shorter neck hangings and shorter tail feathers than perennial males. They are also duller in color and have a shorter spur.

Downy young are predominantly brownish isabel-colored on the upper side, whitish on the throat, ear covers and underside. A dark chestnut-brown central band runs over the crown and back, another one from the rear corner of the eye to the sides of the neck and one light and one dark, wide side band across the back. The wings are reddish brown.

voice

The rooster’s typical call for territory is similar to the crowing of house taps, but is usually a bit more shrill and ends quite abruptly. It is initiated with a loud clap of wings and often answered immediately by neighboring taps. It can usually be heard in the early morning hours and in the evening. The rest of the call repertoire consists of about 30 different cackling sounds, which are very similar to those of the domestic chicken, including various alarm, excitation and voice-feeling sounds.

Distribution and geographic variation

The natural distribution ranges from Kashmir along the Himalayas eastwards to southern China ( Yunnan , Guangxi and Hainan ) and across the east of the Indian subcontinent and the Malay Archipelago southwards to the Wallace Line . The species was introduced to Sulawesi , the Philippines and some Lesser Sunda Islands . There are also free-living populations in Micronesia , Melanesia and Polynesia , on Réunion and the Grenadines, and probably also in New Zealand and South Africa .

There are five subspecies generally recognized. Another G. g. gallina from the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh is usually assigned to G. g murghi . Subspecies have also been described for introduced populations ( philippensis and micronesiae ). However, they are usually included in the nominate form. Some authors, however, doubt that the species was introduced in the Philippines and consider the corresponding subspecies to be valid.

The geographical variation is largely clinical and is particularly evident in the size of the comb and wattles and the color and shape of the neck hangings on the roosters. However, this is also similar to the neck feathers of the hens. There are overlapping zones between the areas of four subspecies.

subspecies Initial description Features and distribution
G. g. murghi
(Indian bankiva chicken ) 		Robinson & Kloss , 1920 Description: similar to G. g. spadiceus , but the neck hangings more yellowish and on the larger feathers with black streaks; Rump feathers lighter orange; Ear flaps white and much smaller; Hen lighter than other subspecies
Distribution : Kashmir and northern and northeastern India and neighboring areas in Nepal , Bhutan and Bangladesh
G. g. spadiceus
(Burmese bankiva chicken) 		( Bonnaterre , 1792) Description: shorter neck hang than in the nominate form, small and red ear lobes
Distribution : extreme north India (east of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam ), Myanmar , south-western Yunnan, Thailand (except eastern parts of the country), Malay Peninsula and northern Sumatra
G. g. jabouillei
(Tonkin Bankiva Chicken ) 		Delacour & Kinnear , 1928 Description: overall darker and more reddish than the nominate form; Feathers of the neck hangings shorter and less pointed and less golden yellow; Comb, throat and ear lobes shorter and red; Hens darker than all other forms.
Distribution : southeastern Yunnan, Guangxi and Hainan, northern Laos and northern Vietnam
G. g. gallus
(Cochinchina bankiva chicken) 		( Linnaeus , 1758) Description: Nominate form (for details see section “Description”), long gold-orange to bright red neck hangings, long and white ear lobes
Distribution : from eastern Thailand through Cambodia and across the middle and south of Laos to central and southern Vietnam
G. g. bankiva
(Java bankiva chicken ) 		Temminck , 1813 Description: similar to G. g. spadiceus , with even shorter and rounded feathers in the golden yellow neck hangings.
Distribution : southern Sumatra, Java and Bali

habitat

Bankiva chickens often leave cover in the early morning and late afternoon to forage and can then be observed on paths and aisles.

The bankiva chicken inhabit a wide range of subtropical and tropical habitats including mangrove forests . Overall, a preference for semi-open, varied landscapes such as forest edge areas or secondary vegetation can be determined. The species is also found in closed forest areas, where it reaches high local densities. The density of settlements in Arunachal Pradesh is significantly higher in natural forests and twice as high in old wood stocks on Palawan as in forests or in secondary vegetation. Locally, this type of foraging can also be found in the cultural landscape. In many places, flat or slightly hilly terrain is preferred, but the altitude range extends up to 2000 m or even 2400 m in northeast India.

Where the species occurs together with other comb chickens, the different demands are often clearly delimited. The fork-tailed chicken, for example, tends to inhabit open land areas. In India the Sonnerathuhn prefers to inhabit drier teak forests , while the Bankiva chicken lives in the more humid sal tree forests and is to be found there mainly in strewn bamboo and bush thickets. The occurrence of the Bankiva chicken coincides conspicuously with the original distribution areas of Salbaum and Barasinghas .

In Southeast Asia in particular, the Bankiva chicken can be closely associated with shifting farming. Older fields left fallow with their initially still low growth, remaining crops such as rice or cassava and berry-bearing bushes offer favorable nutritional conditions. Often parts of the bamboo stands are burned down during the dry season to create aisles or pastureland. Although the chickens mainly live in bamboo stocks, such a form of loosening can also ensure favorable living and feeding conditions. Presumably, the spread of the species was strongly favored by simple, extensive agriculture, as was domestication by this form of cultivation .

hikes

The species is almost everywhere sedentary , as there are no extreme weather conditions in most parts of the range. Hikes take place locally at most. In some areas, for example, birds clear their habitats at higher altitudes in winter and look for valleys or plains. It was reported from western Thailand that Bankiva chickens migrated from the mountains to rainforests 8 to 32 km away during the rainy season and remained there from April to November. From the north of Thailand there are reports of numerous Bankiva chickens that tried to cross the Mekong while migrating .

nutrition

The Bankiva chicken feeds largely opportunistically and omnivorously and is therefore relatively undemanding - one of the factors that predestined the species for domestication. Depending on the season, certain focal points in the food spectrum can arise. Investigations of goiter or stomach contents showed that mainly seeds and invertebrates are eaten.

The plant seeds or fruits found as food mainly included those of the genera Trichosanthes , Rubus , Carissa , Ziziphus and Shorea or those of milkweed plants (especially Croton ), bamboo or Streblus asper . The few cultivated plants found included rice and cassava tubers . These are often collected or dug up in fallow fields. The insect diet consisted of ants, beetles and termites (up to 1000 in a goiter). Occasionally, small lizards are also captured. Snail shells are eaten to ensure the supply of lime - especially in the case of hens before the breeding season.

In the early morning hours and late afternoon until evening, open areas at the edges of the forest or in clearings and aisles as well as - especially daily during the dry season - water points are sought for food. When foraging for food, the species usually occurs in small groups, which often consist of a rooster and several hens. Sometimes it socializes with other chicken birds such as the prelate pheasant . In order to capture frightened insects, the birds also follow grazing animals like the Gaur or search their dung heaps. A Bankiva chicken was once seen eating maggots from a wound on the horns of a Gaur cow.

Reproduction

Bankiva cocks become sexually mature (at least according to information from captivity) at the age of five to eight months. As with other pheasant species, both monogamy and polygyny can occur. As the breeding season progresses, the number of hens belonging to a rooster often increases or varies. In some areas, however, monogamy also seems to be not uncommon.

The breeding season in India falls during the dry season from March to May, but clutches were found in some parts of the country between January and October. In China it extends roughly from February to May, in Bangladesh from March to June. On the Malay Peninsula, broods have been recorded from December to June and August.

The nest is a shallow hollow that is lined with dry grass, palm fronds or bamboo leaves. It is often hidden in bamboo thickets or dense undergrowth under bushes or in bamboo clusters, more rarely in forks of branches. The clutch usually consists of five to six, more rarely four to twelve white, yellowish beige or reddish brown eggs that are about 45 to 49 × 36 mm in size. They are incubated by the female for between 18 and 21 days. The rearing of the young is also the responsibility of the female. The young can fly after about a week.

Way of life

The bankiva chicken lives in herds of between 16 and 40 animals in the jungles of Southeast Asia. The animals communicate through 30 different cackling sounds. There is a pecking order, often with more than one rooster. The animals are diurnal and retreat to branches at a height of about two meters when they sleep. They're more of a short-haul flyer. The birds generally keep a distance from each other, but they help each other with feathers. They also like to use dust or sand baths in sand pits to get rid of parasites.

The Bankiva chicken uses more than half of the day for foraging. They search the ground for worms, insects and seeds by pawing in all directions. You have good auditory perception and a visual range between 4 cm and 50 m. In addition, the animals have a very well developed sense of touch in their legs.

Spread as a domestic chicken

All of our domestic chicken breeds today are descended from the Southeast Asian Bankiva chicken . It is very likely that the first domesticated Bankiva chickens were brought west via the Silk Road . Approx. 2000 BC They came to the Orient. Around 1500 BC The first chickens arrived in Egypt.

The chickens continued to spread over Greece and Italy. They were probably introduced to Spain by the Phoenicians , Iron Age chicken remains from Spain are known. Around 600 BC The domestic chicken finally came across the Alps. The first finds in Central Europe come from the early Iron Age ( Hallstatt culture ) from the Heuneburg near Hundersingen. From the 5th / 4th Century BC Finds come from Switzerland ( Gelterkinden and Möhlin ). However, the domestic chicken only found widespread use in Europe since the Romans , who raised chickens on a large scale as egg and meat suppliers. Columella's Guide to Agriculture contains a lot of advice on keeping chickens and mentions several breeds.

literature

  • Phil McGowan , Guy M. Kirwan : Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) . (1994/2015), in: J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, AD Christie, E. de Juana (eds.): Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016.
  • Heinz-Sigurd Raethel : Chicken birds of the world. Verlag J. Neumann-Neudamm GmbH & Co. KG, Melsungen 1988, ISBN 3-7888-0440-8 , pp. 574-579.
  • Steve Madge , Phil McGowan: Pheasants, Partridges & Grouse. Helm Identification Guides, London 2002, ISBN 0-7136-3966-0 , p. 292 f and plate 34.
  • F. Akishinonomiya et al .: Monophyletic origin and unique dispersal patterns of domestic fowl . In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA - PNAS) 93, 1996, ISSN  0027-8424 , pp. 6792-6795, online (PDF; 1.1 MB) .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ JA Jobling: Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology (2015) in: J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, AD Christie, E. de Juana (eds.): Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive , Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2015
  2. ↑ a b Madge et al. (2002), p. 292f, see literature
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Madge et al. (2002), p. 293, see literature
  4. ↑ a b c Raethel (1988), p. 574, see literature
  5. ↑ Raethel (1988), p. 578, see literature
  6. ↑ a b Mc Gowan et al. (2016), section Taxonomy , see literature
  7. ↑ Raethel (1988), p. 577 f, see literature
  8. ↑ Raethel (1988), pp. 573 and 577f, see literature
  9. ↑ Mc Gowan et al. (2016), Movements section , see literature
  10. ↑ Raethel (1988), p. 575, see literature
  11. ↑ a b c Raethel (1988), p. 576, see literature
  12. ↑ a b c Mc Gowan et al. (2016), section Food and Feeding , see literature
  13. ↑ a b c Mc Gowan et al. (2016), section Breeding , see literature

Web links

Commons : Gallus gallus  - collection of images, videos and audio files