Fireback Pheasant

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Fireback Pheasant
Rooster of the fire-back pheasant

Rooster of the fire-back pheasant

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Chicken birds (Galliformes)
Family : Pheasants (Phasianidae)
Genre : Chicken Pheasants ( Lophura )
Type : Fireback Pheasant
Scientific name
Lophura ignita
( Shaw , 1797)

The crested fireback ( Lophura ignita ) is a Hühnervogel art from the family of pheasant-like . He colonizes the Malay Peninsula from the extreme south of Myanmar to the south as well as Sumatra , Bangka and Borneo .

description

The red lower back gives it its name. Here it is more of a copper red, which indicates one of the two subspecies of Borneo.

The cock of the nominate form reaches a body length of 65–67 cm, of which 24–26 cm are on the tail. The wing length is between 270 and 280 mm. The hen is slightly smaller at 56–57 cm, the tail shorter at around 16–18 cm. The wing length is 156–177 mm.

The rooster wears a short, voluminous hood, the dark blue feathers of which have bare shafts below and a spatula-shaped flag above. The facial lobes are bright sky-blue, the iris red and the beak whitish horn-colored. The body plumage is predominantly silky, shiny dark blue with iridescent ultramarine-blue edges on the elytra. The wings of the hand and arm are blue-black, the lower abdomen black. The lower back shows an intense copper-red color, which gave the species its name. A somewhat more muted copper red can be found on the lower breast and the sides of the breast. The rump and tail-tail are dark blue with metallic blue feather edges. The middle three pairs of control feathers are cinnamon-colored, the rest of the tail blue-black. The legs are greyish to reddish flesh-colored and long whitish spurred.

The hen also wears a hood, but it is a little weaker. The skin of the face is blue but not enlarged. The plumage is predominantly chestnut-colored, scrawled on the wing and tail covers and darker on the flanks and underside and scaled by white hems. The chin, throat, and lower abdomen are white. The control springs are black and have a dark brown wave pattern. The beak base is brown, the spurs are usually missing.

voice

The rooster call is described as a dull, guttural wuuunk'k . It is usually followed by a flutter of wings. A shrill whistling alarm call, a loud chuckle and a two-syllable kju-kun are also known.

Distribution and existence

The distribution of the fire-backed pheasant ranges from the extreme south of Myanmar (from where there are no recent records) to the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Banka and Borneo. The stocks on the Malay Peninsula have declined sharply, but no data are available on the exact distribution. The species is still relatively common in the Malay province of Sabah , in the Indonesian part of Borneo and on Sumatra. It is threatened with extinction on Bangka. Especially on the Malay Peninsula, the population is threatened by advancing deforestation and is likely to be in decline. This threat also exists in the rest of the area. Since the species also adopts secondary forests as a habitat, it is less endangered than other species. Nothing is known about the total population, at the IUCN the species is on the warning list (“near threatended”).

Geographic variation

While the two subspecies of Borneo, of which the nominate form is the smaller, differ mainly in size, the subspecies L. i. rufa is bigger and has white tail feathers. It also lacks the copper-red side panels. They are replaced by a dark blue field with broad white shaft lines. Instead, the back is more intensely red ( “rufa” ) and less chestnut-colored. The facial lobes are four-lobed rather than two-lobed, lighter blue, and the wattles show a red spot. The legs are light carmine. The subspecies macartneyi mediates between the two forms of Borneo and the latter. It is very variable and varies in most of its characteristics. Face flaps and legs always correspond to those of the two subspecies of Borneo.

  • L. i. rufa ( Raffles , 1822) - Malay Peninsula south of the Isthmus of Kra and much of Sumatra
  • L. i. macartneyi ( Temminck , 1813) - southeast Sumatra from Palembang southwards
  • L. i. ignita ( Shaw , 1797) - Indonesian part of Borneo and Bangka
  • L. i. nobilis ( PL Sclater , 1863) - Sarawak and Sabah provinces in northern Borneo

Way of life

The fire-backed pheasant is an inhabitant of forests of the lowlands at altitudes below 1000 m. It prefers primary forests, but also occurs in secondary forms of vegetation. It can often be found near rivers and wetlands, and it avoids open terrain. The species is omnivorous and the food is heavily dependent on the seasonal supply. It mainly consists of fruits or berries, but at times also mostly of arthropods , molluscs or worms . Most of all, she is searched for by scratching the ground.

The fire-backed pheasant is monogamous , the breeding season is probably between June and August. The clutch consists of 4–8 short oval eggs with a creamy white color and 54 × 40 mm in size. They are incubated for 24 days. From September onwards, one often meets family associations that dissolve towards the end of the year when the young birds become independent. From January to May birds of both sexes can be found individually.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. BirdLife species factsheet, s. Web links

Web links

Commons : Fire Back Pheasant  - Collection of images, videos and audio files