Chicken Pheasants

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Chicken Pheasants
Fire back pheasant (Lophura ignita)

Fire back pheasant ( Lophura ignita )

Systematics
Sub-stem : Vertebrates (vertebrata)
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Chicken birds (Galliformes)
Family : Pheasants (Phasianidae)
Genre : Chicken Pheasants
Scientific name
Lophura
Fleming , 1822
Hen of the Swinhoefasan

The gallopheasant ( Lophura ) are a genus of the family of pheasant-like , which comprises, depending on the view 9-11 species. Their range extends from the southern edge of the eastern Palearctic across large parts of Southeast Asia , where they occur in subtropical and tropical forests. Four types are island endings .

The classification of these species is very controversial. For a long time they were placed in several genera , some of which were monotypical , and various subspecies and hybrids were described as separate species. The first attempt at reorganization was made in 1949 by Jean Théodore Delacour , who grouped all of them in the genus Lophura . This view is still largely followed today, with some regroupings and changes being made - supported by molecular genetic studies. For example, the emperor pheasant ( Lophura imperialis ) described by Delacour was identified as a hybrid between the silver pheasant and the Edward pheasant or the Vietnam pheasant . The species status of the two species Sumatra pheasant and Vietnam pheasant is still controversial today, exact studies on this are still lacking.

features

As the name suggests, the chicken pheasants are similar to the comb hens ( Gallus ), but do not appear to be very closely related to them. In all species, the cocks have well-developed spurs on the barrel. The area around the eye is featherless, colored either scarlet or sky blue, and has more or less large erectile tissue , which are erect during courtship. They can be pronounced as bulges or lobes over the eyes, as well as ear or wattles. When Bulwer's Pheasant ( Lophura bulweri) this cavernosa are extremely increased so that the down lowered head at Vollbalz cm has a total height of 18th In the hens, the eye region is also featherless and colored, but not as extensive. It does not show any erectile tissue or processes. A spur is not or only slightly pronounced in the female sex.

All chicken pheasants show a pronounced sexual dimorphism in terms of plumage. The females have brown plumage colors , only the hens of the yellow-tailed pheasant are dark blue. The roosters are predominantly dark blue to black feathered, they usually have conspicuous feather hoods and the tail feathers are usually yellow or white in color. The strongly stepped tail of most species consists of 16 control feathers, some of which are strongly elongated and curved in the cocks. The rooster of the Bulwer pheasant has 32 tail feathers, which is the highest number in any bird. However, some of them are probably remodeled upper tail covers.

Way of life

Chicken pheasants are pronounced forest dwellers that occur predominantly in subtropical and tropical primary forests with sometimes dense crowns and lots and mostly dense undergrowth. While potash and silver pheasants also inhabit bushes and more open terrain, the other species can usually only be found in relatively closed forests. They leave this at most to search for food and can then only be observed in peripheral areas. Most species behave very shyly overall, so that sometimes only a few observations are available. In some places, secondary habitats are also assumed, such as forests changed by logging, bamboo jungles or dense plantings. Most of the species are flatland and hill country dwellers, but some also live in mountain forests in middle elevations and the caliphatic pheasant can even be found in the Himalayas at altitudes of up to 3700 m.

Very little is known about reproduction and behavior; most observations have been made from captive birds. Some species seem to be polygamous , others more in monogamy . However, there are no more detailed studies on this. Outside the breeding season, many species can be found in small groups. The courtship behavior ranges from a simple side courtship in the silver pheasant to the elaborate, turkey-like courtship of the Bulwer pheasant. A nest is not built, the eggs are deposited in a hollow on the ground or in the vegetation. The clutch usually consists of about 4–9 eggs; Sumatran, Salvadoran, and Bulwer pheasants only appear to lay two eggs. These do not have any markings and are mostly whitish beige to reddish beige, some also darker to reddish brown. The incubation period is between 20 and 26 days.

Types and systematics

Even if the inclusion of the species (or genera) listed here in Lophura, proposed by Delacour in 1949, is largely consensus today, the further classification is still controversial in many points or has been little studied. There are several characteristics that allow certain species to be grouped together, but there are also characteristics that indicate an equally clear delimitation. However, almost all of these characteristics connect geographically related groups. The division into subgenera made here follows S. Madge and P. McGowan (2002).

Subgenus Gennaeus

This very diverse range of shapes includes two species with a total of 23 subspecies, which probably form a super species . The distribution ranges from the western Himalayas to eastern China, to the north of the Malay Peninsula and to south Vietnam . Both species occur parapatric , the border is roughly the lower reaches of the Irrawaddy . Especially to the east of it there are both natural hybrids and intermediate populations that lead from the characteristics of one to those of the other species. Due to the description of numerous hybrids as separate species in the 19th century, up to 49 taxa have been described at times . Delacour divided these into two very diverse types, using the color of the legs and the moulting of the cocks in the adult dress as criteria. The western forms that are now used as the caliphatic pheasant have gray legs, while the eastern silver pheasant is red. The male juveniles of the caliphatic pheasant molt into adult plumage in the first year, while this does not occur in the second year of the silver pheasant. Three subspecies east of the Irrawaddy mediate between the two species in these characteristics. They were formerly classified as a caliphatic pheasant, but in 2003 they were assigned to the silver pheasant based on studies of mitochondrial DNA . The investigation also casts doubt on the justification of some subspecies.

Subgenus Hierophasis

Depending on the opinion, this group includes two to three predominantly dark blue species, the taxonomy and occurrence of which have long been rather opaque. The emperor pheasant ( Lophura x imperialis ), which has also been classified here so far , has turned out to be a hybrid and therefore no longer deserves a species status. The species Edward's Pheasant and Vietnamese Pheasant, native to Vietnam, are very rare and threatened by the deforestation of their habitats. For a long time, there was hardly any evidence of either and they were considered extinct. Whether it is a separate species or just a subspecies of a species is still controversial. The Swinhoefasan is endemic to Taiwan .

Subgenus Acomus

These two species are endemic to Sumatra. The Sumatra pheasant was only discovered in 1939 and has so far been poorly described. Since the hens in particular are clearly different from those of the Salvadoran pheasant, it is usually treated as a separate species. Some authors see it as a subspecies of the Salvadoran pheasant. Both were sometimes placed in the genus Houppifer with the yellow-tailed pheasant .

Subgenus Euplocamus

The three species in this group are linked by the reddish-brown to intense red coloration of the lower back and rump, which in the prelate pheasant is limited to the feathers. This occurs in eastern Indochina , the other two species inhabit the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. The prelate pheasant has long been placed in the monotypical genus Diardigallus . Its facial lobes are red, which connects it with the yellow-tailed pheasant and the aforementioned subgenera, but it has the bald shafts of the hood feathers in common with the fire-backed pheasant, which in turn has a blue, featherless eye region. Its subspecies L. ignita rufa is sometimes viewed as a separate species ("Viellot pheasant"). The yellow-tailed pheasant was placed by some authors with the species of the aforementioned subgenus in the genus Houppifer , since it is also a very small, tropical species without a feather bonnet. The hen of this species is the only one in the genus to have dark blue plumage.

Subgenus Lobiophasis

This pheasant, endemic to Borneo, differs from the other species u. a. due to the long facial lobes and the unusual number of tail feathers, which, similar to peacocks, can be turned into a wheel. The sub-genus was therefore usually assigned the rank of a genus in the past.

literature

  • Steve Madge , Phil McGowan : Pheasants, Partridges & Grouse. Helm Identification Guides, 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 .
  • A. Hennache, P. Rasmussen, V. Lucchini, S. Rimondi, E. Randi: Hybrid origin of the imperial pheasant Lophura imperialis (Delacour and Jabouille, 1924) demonstrated by morphology, hybrid experiments, and DNA analyzes , Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Vol. 80/4, December 2003, pp. 573-600
  • S. Moulin, E. Randi, C. Tabbaroni, A. Hennache: Mitochondrial DNA diversification among the subspecies of the Silver and Kalij Pheasants, Lophura nycthemera and L. leucomelanos, Phasianidae , Ibis 145, Issue 1, January 2003, p. E1 -E11

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hennache et al., S. literature
  2. ↑ Madge, p. 297, p. literature
  3. ↑ Madge / McGowan, s. literature
  4. ↑ Moulin et al., P. literature

Web links

Commons : Lophura  - collection of images, videos and audio files