Green peafowl

Green peafowl
Male in display, Pavo muticus imperator
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Subfamily: Phasianinae
Genus: Pavo
species group: P. muticus
Binomial name
Pavo muticus
Linnaeus, 1766
Subspecies
  • P. m. muticus
    Linnaeus, 1766
  • P. m. spicifer
    Shaw, 1804
  • P. m. imperator
    Delacour, 1949

The green peafowl (Pavo muticus) (from Latin Pavo, peafowl; muticus, Mute, docked or curtailed)[2] is a species of peafowl that is found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is also known as the Java peafowl, but this term is properly used to describe the nominate subspecies endemic to the island of Java in Indonesia. It is the closest relative of the Indian peafowl or blue peafowl (Pavo cristatus), which is mostly found on the Indian subcontinent.

Description

Adult Female head and upper neck
Male profile
Green peafowl, taken in Imphal Zoo, Manipur, India

Unlike the related Indian peafowl, the sexes of green peafowl are quite similar in appearance, especially in the wild. Both sexes have long upper tail coverts which cover the actual tail underneath. In the male this extends up to two meters and is decorated with eyespots or ocelli while in the female the coverts are green and much shorter, just covering the tail. Outside the breeding season, however, the male's train is moulted and it can be difficult to distinguish the sexes unless they are observed up close. The neck and breast feathers of both sexes are iridescent green and resemble scales. In the male, the scapulars, median and greater wing coverts are blue while the lesser coverts are green and form a triangle of scaly feathers on the shoulder when the wing is closed. The secondaries are black and in some subspecies the tertials are brown and/or barred with a faint pattern. The female has blue lesser coverts and therefore lacks the triangle at the wing shoulder. Females also have neck scales fringed with copper as well as more barring on the back as well as the primaries and alula. Both sexes have shafted crests, and are long-legged, heavy-winged and long-tailed in silhouette. The crest of the female has slightly wider plumes while those of the male are thinner and taller. The facial skin is double striped with a white to light blue and beside the ear is a yellow to orange crescent. The dark triangle below the eye towards the eyebrow is bluish-green in the male and brown in the female. Seen from a distance, they are generally dark coloured birds with pale vermillion or buff coloured primaries which are quite visible in their peculiar flight which has been described as a true flapping flight with little gliding that one associates with Galliform birds.

Green peafowl are generally more silent than Indian peafowl. The male of some subspecies, especially imperator, have a loud call of ki-wao, which is often repeated. The female has a loud aow-aa call with an emphasis on the first syllable. The male may also make a similar call. The males call from their roost sites at dawn and dusk.[3]

Green peafowl are large birds, amongst the largest living galliforms in terms of overall size, though rather lighter-bodied than the wild turkey, and perhaps the longest extant, wild bird in total length. The male is 1.8–3 m (5 ft 11 in–9 ft 10 in) in total length but this includes its tail covert (or "train") which itself measures 1.4–1.6 m (4 ft 7 in–5 ft 3 in). The tail coverts are even longer than those of the male Indian peafowl but are shorter than those of the arguses. The adult female is around half the total length of the breeding male at 1–1.1 m (3 ft 3 in–3 ft 7 in) in length. It has a relatively large wingspan that averages around 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) and can reach 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) in big males. The green peafowl is capable of sustained flight and is often observed on wing.[4]

Distribution and habitat

The green peafowl was widely distributed in Southeast Asia in the past from eastern and north-eastern India, northern Myanmar and southern China, extending through Laos, and Thailand into Vietnam, Cambodia, Peninsular Malaysia and the islands of Java. Records from northeastern India have been questioned and old records are possibly of feral birds.[5] The ranges have reduced with habitat destruction and hunting.[3]

Green peafowls are found in a wide range of habitats including primary and secondary forest, both tropical and subtropical, as well as evergreen and deciduous. They may also be found amongst bamboo, on grasslands, savannas, scrub and farmland edge. In Vietnam, the preferred habitat was found to be dry deciduous forest close to water and away from human disturbance.[6] Proximity to water appears to be an important factor.[7]

Taxonomy

1781 painting by Maruyama Okyo

The species was first classified as Pavo muticus by Carl Linnaeus, although it was previously described in Europe by Ulisse Aldrovandi as "Pavo Iaponensis" based on a Japanese painting given to the pope by the Emperor of Japan. Interestingly, these birds were depicted as having no spurs; Linnaeus followed Aldrovandi's description. The Japanese had imported green peafowl from Southeast Asia for hundreds of years, and the birds were frequently depicted in Japanese paintings. As a result, the type locality described by Linnaeus was "Habitat in Japonia", even though the species is not native to Japan. Today, there are no wild green peafowl in Japan, though the feral Indian peafowl of Japan have some green peafowl genes. François Levaillant was one of the first Western ornithologists to see a live bird, imported from Macau to an animal collection in Cape of Good Hope. From an Indian painting, George Shaw described a peafowl native to India with a "blue head" and an "upright lanceolate crest", which he named Pavo spicifer, the spike-crested peacock. A third form of green peafowl was described in 1949 by Jean Delacour, as imperator, found in Indo-China. From the advice of a bird dealer in Hong Kong, Delacour concluded there were three races of green peafowl, lumping spicifer into the species as well. Today most authorities recognize these three:[8][9][10]

Delacour dismissed several aberrant specimens to be individual variations (including the type specimens for imperator originating from the Bolaven Plateau in Laos), and stated further studies were needed to establish the taxonomy of green peafowl. Few studies have been conducted to substantiate Delacour's classification, even though it is accepted by nearly all authorities. Some authors have suggested that the population found in Yunnan, which are traditionally classified as imperator, may be another race.[11] The authors of a study in China determined the divergence period between green and Indian peafowl to be 3 million years. In the same study, they also noted there appeared to be two different forms of green peafowl in Yunnan which should be classified as distinct subspecies.[12] Although research by Ettore Randi suggested that the green peafowl of Malaysia were the same subspecies as the extant P. m. muticus of Java, some authors have suggested the two populations were distinct. Due to the large range of imperator in Indochina, other subspecies within its range have also been proposed, notably annamensis of Southeast Asia (including the aforementioned Bolaven Plateau specimens) and yunnanensis of Yunnan.

Behaviour

The green peafowl is a forest bird which nests on the ground laying 3 to 6 eggs.[13]

It has been widely believed that the green peafowl is polygynous, but unlike the Indian peafowl, males are solitary and do not display in leks. Instead the solitary males are highly territorial and form harems with no pair bonds.

However, the theory that the male is polygynous also conflicts with observations in captivity; pairs left alone with no human interaction have been observed to be strongly monogamous. The close similarity between both sexes also suggests a different breeding system in contrast to that of the Indian peafowl. Thus, some authors have suggested that the harems seen in the field are juvenile birds and that males are not promiscuous.[3]

They usually spend time on or near the ground in tall grasses and sedges. Family units roost in trees at a height of 10–15 m (33–49 ft).[3] The diet consists mainly of fruits, invertebrates, reptiles, frogs and rodents. As with the other member of its genus, the green peafowl can even hunt venomous snakes. Ticks and termites, flower petals, buds leaves and berries are favorite foods of adult peafowl.

Painting by Daniel Giraud Elliot.

Status

Due to hunting and a reduction in extent and quality of habitat, as well as poaching, the green peafowl is evaluated as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES. The world population has declined rapidly and the species no longer occurs in many areas of its past distribution. The last strongholds for the species are in protected areas such as Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand, Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam and Baluran National Park, Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia. The population in the wild was estimated to be about 5,000 to 10,000 individuals around 1995.[3]

Although there is no natural range overlap with the Indian peafowl, hybridisation with the Indian peafowl is still a potential threat. The two species produce fertile hybrids and feral Indian peafowl may hybridize with wild green peafowl. In captivity hybrids are called "Spalding" peafowl and are used by breeders to create different breeds. Through backcrossing some hybrids become almost indistinguishable from pure green peafowl.[14] Because some aviculturists refer to all races as "Java peafowl", the subspecies of green peafowl are also mixed in captivity and there are many captive birds of unknown provenance, further complicating the issue of whether there are only three subspecies. Green peafowl are sometimes selectively bred according to similar colouration, even if the origins of the birds are different. In Thailand, captive green peafowl are sometimes released in the vicinity of a breeding station even though their true origins remain unknown.

In 2005, The Star reported that successful reintroductions were being made in Malaysia by the World Pheasant Association (WPA).[15] The article stated that the genetic research proved the Javan and Malay peafowl were genetically identical and the subspecies muticus was introduced - the scientific community consensus. However, the assumption that the Malaysian and Javanese muticus birds are the same subspecies remains controversial, so it is uncertain which subspecies was introduced.[14] At least some of the birds introduced in Malaysia were actually spicifer, and others imported from Java, which was once found on the northern tip of the country. Since the 2005 article, there has been no update on the status of the reintroduction.

Cultural significance

The Green Peacock was a royal symbol of Burma's monarchs

The green peafowl is often depicted in Japanese paintings from the Edo period, notably by Maruyama Ōkyo and Nagasawa Rosetsu.

The Peacock Room, an 1877 room installation by James McNeill Whistler, prominently features paintings of green peafowl.

Although the Burmese or grey peacock-pheasant is the national bird of Myanmar, the green peafowl was an ancient symbol of the monarchs of Burma.[16] It was also shown during British colonial times on the flag of the governor and the naval ensign, as well as on the flag of the State of Burma from 1943–1945 and on the currency of independent Burma as well.

The flag of the National League for Democracy party features a stylized fighting peacock next to a star.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2013). "Pavo muticus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ↑ Johnsgard, P.A. (1999). The Pheasants of the World: Biology and Natural History. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 374. ISBN 1-56098-839-8.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Pavo muticus (PDF). Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book (Report). Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. 2006. pp. 1052–1087.
  4. ↑ Biddle, Tami Davis (2002). Pheasants, Partridges, and Grouse : A Guide to the Pheasants, Partridges, Quails, Grouse, Guineafowl, Buttonquails, and Sandgrouse of the World. Princeton Field Guides. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-08908-9.
  5. ↑ Rasmussen, P.C.; Anderton, J.C. (2005). The Birds of South Asia. Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-84-96553-85-9.
  6. ↑ Brickle, Nick W. (2002). "Habitat use, predicted distribution and conservation of green peafowl (Pavo muticus) in Dak Lak Province, Vietnam". Biological Conservation. 105 (2): 189. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(01)00182-3.
  7. ↑ Brickle, N.W.; Cu, Nguyen; Quynh, Ha Quy; Cuong, Nguyen Thai Tu; San, Hoang Van (1998). The Status and Distribution of Green Peafowl Pavo muticus in Dak Lak Province, Vietnam (PDF) (Report). Hanoi, Vietnam: BirdLife International - Vietnam Programme. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(01)00182-3.
  8. ↑ "Zoological Museum Amsterdam". Retrieved 20 April 2008.
  9. ↑ Clements, James F. (2007). The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World (6th ed.). London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 978-0-7136-8695-1.
  10. ↑ Dickinson, Edward C., ed. (2003). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World (3rd ed.). ISBN 0-7136-6536-X..
  11. ↑ Madge, Steve; McGowan, Phil (2002). Pheasants, Partridges, and Grouse: A Guide to the Pheasants, Partridges, Quails, Grouse, Guineafowl, Buttonquails, and Sandgrouse of the World. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-7136-3966-0.
  12. ↑ Ouyang, Yi Na (2008). "Genetic Divergence between Pavo muticus and Pavo cristatus by Cyt b Gene". Journal of Yunnan Agricultural University.
  13. ↑ Grimmett, R.; Inskipp, C.; Inskipp, T. (1999). Birds of India: Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04910-6.
  14. 1 2 Mennig, Wolfgang. "Green Peafowl and Hybrids Tips and Tricks to identify unpure birds" (PDF). World Pheasant Association. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  15. ↑ Chiew, Hilary (11 January 2005). "The return of the Green peafowl". The Star, Malaysia. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012.
  16. ↑ "Burma: historical flags". Flags of the World. External link in |website= (help)
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