Wallich Pheasant
| Wallich Pheasant | ||||||||
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Wallich Pheasant ( Catreus wallichii ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||
| Catreus | ||||||||
| Cabanis , 1851 | ||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||
| Catreus wallichii | ||||||||
| ( Hardwicke , 1827) |
The Wallichfasan ( Catreus wallichii ) is a Hühnervogel art from the family of pheasant-like. It occurs scattered in the western Himalayas , where it inhabits grassy and scrubby, rocky slopes in middle mountain areas, and is classified as endangered ("vulnerable") by the IUCN . He is the only representative of the genus Catreus . The genus name goes back to the Greek historian Strabo , who uses it to designate an unspecified, peacock-like bird. The specific epithet honors the Danish naturalist Nathaniel Wallich , who was director of the Indian Museum in Calcutta from 1814 .
description
The cock of the Wallich pheasant reaches a body length of 90 to 118 cm, of which the tail is between 45 and 58 cm. The wing length is 235-270 mm, the weight between 1.5 and 1.7 kg. The hen is significantly smaller at 61–76 cm, of which 32–47 cm are on the tail. The wing length is between 225 and 245 mm, the weight between 0.9 and 1.4 kg. Sex dimorphism is present, but not as pronounced as in other pheasants. Both sexes have a conspicuous head of feathers that is significantly longer in the rooster. The feathers are hair-like and slightly curved upwards on the cock at the tip. The featherless skin around the eyes is red and slightly more dull in color in the female. The iris is golden brown. The wings are rounded, the first wrist arm shorter than the tenth, the fifth the longest. The long, pointed tail consists of 18 control feathers , of which the middle pair is 4 to 5 times longer than the rest, which in turn are clearly stepped. The strong beak is yellowish to bluish horn-colored. The relatively short, strong legs are gray-brown to flesh-colored and have a long spur in the cockerel, which in the hen is only hinted at.
In the rooster, the sides of the head and the top of the head including the hood are black-brown. The feathers have light brown edges, the longest white tips. The chin, throat and sides of the neck appear light due to dirty white feather hems. A large part of the body feathers is cross-banded and spotted with black, gray-beige or rusty yellow on a light background. A subterminal black band has a metallic green sheen. The upper side in particular appears strong and irregularly banded in black across the top. Depending on the basic color of the light hems, the different parts of the body look dirty white to beige or rusty brown. The basic color on the neck and front back is pale gray and turns beige-brown on the lower chest and flanks. The middle of the abdomen is blackish. The upper side of the body is light brownish, the rump and tail-coverts show a rust-colored tone. The longer upper tail-coverts are lighter rust-colored and only spotty, interrupted, cross-banded, not spotty patterned. The control feathers are yellowish beige and have spotty, wide black-brown cross bars at some distance. The brown part points to the tip of the tail. On the outer control feathers, the bandages become increasingly solid chestnut brown. The outermost tail feathers are rusty yellow with darker rust colored bands. The upper wing-coverts are spotted with black and openwork banded on a light rust-colored background, the dark-brown wings are drawn across in a light rust-colored pattern.
In the hen, the black-brown feathers on the top of the head are lined with rust yellow, making the top of the head lighter than in the rooster. The chin and throat are white beige. The black feathers on the chest and neck have wide, white hems. Those on the upper side are scrawled in reddish brown and black, have light beige shaft stripes, a black subterminal tape and light colored ends. The lower chest and flanks are rust-red and have narrow, rust-yellow hems as well as black transverse bands and spots. The middle of the abdomen is whitish. The rump and the upper tail-coverts lack the horizontal stripes that are characteristic of the male. The control springs are shorter than those of the rooster, heavily scribbled and banded with narrow beige bands.
Young birds are colored like hens, but a little paler. You are still missing the spring hood.
voice
The vocal expressions are similar to those of the ear pheasants . A frequent call is a hoarse, accelerating series of calls, which is described, for example, as chirräpir chirrapir chirr chir chirta chirra . At dawn and dusk in the sleeping quarters, one hears a high- pitched , whistling chiwi wu from both sexes , interrupted by short, staccato-like shouts. The alarm call is a sharp tok tok tok , sometimes a satisfied waääk äk wääk wääk can be heard.
Distribution and existence
The distribution area of the Wallich Pheasant is the western Himalayas. In the past, the deposits, which have always been very dispersed, reached from northwest Pakistan through northwest India to Nepal . In the meantime, the Wallich pheasant is probably extinct in Pakistan, only in the valley of the Jhelam there could still be residual occurrences. In Nepal the species only occurs locally between the Baitadi district in the west and the Kali Gandaki . In India it was subject to a sharp decline and the main deposits are now concentrated in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand . In addition, a larger occurrence from the cashmere is known. The total population is estimated at under 6000 birds and the species is considered endangered ("vulnerable") by the IUCN .
Way of life
The Wallichfasan inhabits mountain slopes with interspersed rock cliffs, gorges and steep walls at altitudes between 1200 and 3350 m. The preferred vegetation consists of tall grass, undergrowth and stunted trees. These are mostly early succession stages with emerging growth of coniferous and deciduous trees, junipers or rhododendrons as well as grazed and extensively cultivated locations. Since the latter are mostly located near settlements, the species is often at risk of being hunted.
The species lives in pairs or in small family groups, sometimes up to 15 birds have been observed. The food is usually looked for in the morning in open areas. Like ear or gloss pheasants, wallich pheasants dig through the ground for tubers or roots, so that sometimes deep holes arise. You spend the night on cliffs, in stunted trees or on the ground.
Wallich pheasants live in monogamy . The breeding season is between April and June. The nest lies at the foot of rocks in the vegetation and is usually formed into tufts of grass. The clutch consists of beige 9-10, sometimes up to 14 eggs, which are 54 × 39 mm in size and are mostly unsigned, but sometimes blunt end with reddish brown dots. They are incubated by the hen for 26 days. The rooster stays nearby and later takes part in the rearing of the young.
External system
The Wallich Pheasant differs so clearly from other pheasants, to which it is undoubtedly related, that it is given its own genus. Of the syrmaticus ( Syrmaticus ) and the phasianus ( phasianus ), it differs by the hood and the slightly pronounced sexual dimorphism, from the latter species also, which is not softened and worn by the rump. Other unique selling points are his general habitus and the vocal repertoire. Both of the aforementioned features, the slight difference between the sexes, the strong feet and the behavior when foraging, suggest that it is a link to the ear pheasants .
supporting documents
literature
- Charles William Beebe : A monograph of the pheasants , New York Zoological Society, 1918-1922, Vol. 3, pp. 49f
- Steve Madge , Phil McGowan : Pheasants, Partridges & Grouse. Helm Identification Guides, Christopher Helm, London 2002, ISBN 0-7136-3966-0 .
- Heinz-Sigurd Raethel : Chicken birds of the world. Verlag J. Neumann-Neudamm GmbH & Co. KG, Melsungen 1988, ISBN 3-7888-0440-8 .
Single receipts
- ↑ CW Beebe, s. literature
- ↑ Raethel, p. 605 and Madge, p. 316, s. literature
- ↑ a b c Madge, p. 316, p. literature
- ↑ a b Raethel, p. 605, s. literature
- ↑ a b c BirdLife species factsheet, s. Web links
- ↑ Beebe, p. 49, Raethel, p. 602 and Madge, p. 40, s. literature
Web links
- Catreus wallichii in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2004. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed on 7 October of 2010.
- BirdLife species factsheet , accessed October 7, 2010
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Catreus wallichii in the Internet Bird Collection
- Photos of Catreus wallichii in the Oriental Bird Club image database , accessed October 7, 2010