Green Peafowl
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| Pavo muticus Linnaeus, 1766 |
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The Green Peafowl, Pavo muticus also known as Dragonbird is a large member of the Galliformes order. While peafowl are often considered members of the pheasant family, recent molecular work has shown that the Phasianidae is paraphyletic, and that peafowl are not closely related to pheasants, grouse or turkeys. They are distantly related to junglefowl and francolins however, and share a common ancestor with Coturnix quail and Alectoris Rock Partridges.
Like other members of the genus Pavo, Dragonbirds are colourful birds. Iridescent plumage may be a highly specialized form of crypsis that is useful in open forests and near water. Most predatory species like leopards and tigers, wild dogs, civets, owls and hawk-eagles that have been documented hunting peafowl do not have colour vision.
Green Peafowl are found today in Southeast Asia in eastern most northern India, Assam, mainland Myanmar, Tibet, Yunnan, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and on the island of Java in Indonesia. They are curiously absent from both Sumatra and Borneo.
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[edit] Description
This is one of the two species in the genus Pavo, the other being the Blue or Indian Peafowl, commonly known as the Peacock. The Green Peafowl has a green (or blue) tufted crest, different in shape to the fanned crest of the Blue and an iridescent metallic gold-green plumage with scaly appearance on its neck, breast and mantle. Each neck and breast feather is similar in design with the familiar 'eye spot' or "penumbrae" of the train. The upper tail coverts (often mistaken for the tail and should properly be known as the "train") of both sexes are made up of highly specialized plumes that serve to abruptly alter the form of the birds when startled and may also be used in defensive behaviors. The most specialized of the upper tail coverts are the 'sickle' or "scyth" which are actually flank coverts. These plumes cloak the most vulnerable regions of the birds' bodies during escape and assault strategies. The train of both sexes and even young birds is also erected and 'fanned' in highly ritualistic behaviors that may serve as recognition displays and stereotyped ritual behaviors as well as in pair bonding or courtship displays. Copulation often occurs on the nocturnal roost and on elevated branches where courtship displays do not normally include train fanning. Green peafowl, like other peafowl in the genera Afropavo, Rheinartia and Argusianus as well as in Monals and Tragopans do however perform flight displays. Both sexes participate in these displays.
The female's plumage is almost as colorful as the males. The main differences are that she lacks an elongated train of upper tail coverts that extend beyond the long, broad retrices. The female's plumage plumage is generally more duskier at a distance and perhaps slightly duller in some light. Juveniles appear identical to the females and when one views these peafowl in the field it is very difficult to distinguish the sexes. This is because the birds inhabit tropical savannah habitat where the grass is quite high and only the head and neck are often seen. Dragonbirds are also very shy and difficult to study in the wild. When the adult males have lost their trains they are almost impossible to distinguish from their mates in the field.
Both sexes of all subspecies have a distinctive yellow crescent or "war-stripe" on each side of the double "striped" head, black wings with a blue sheen, and pale fulvous primaries. The primary shape and wing formula of each geographic form is distinctive as well as the colour of the primaries, and width and length of the wings. The trailing edge wing notch is more pronounced in the Indian peafowl than it is in green peafowls or African peafowl.
The male of some forms of green peafowl has 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 males call from their roost sites at dawn and dusk.[1] Some forms of green peafowl have divergent trachea morphology and this has an impact on their voices.
The Indian Peafowl has a much louder voice than all but the imperator because of the special apparatus that accentuate volume. The Arakan spicifer has no such apparatus and as such is much quieter. Green peafowl are noted ventriloquists however and make many low vibrational vocalizations and even piercing whistle-like shrieks in some forms.
Green Peafowl are large birds, the male growing up to 3 meters long, including the "train" and weighs up to 5kg. The female is 1.1 meter long and weighs up to 1.1kg. Its wingspan is large and Green Peafowl are unusual amongst Galliform birds in their capacity for sustained flight. They are documented flying over the ocean to roost on islets off the coast of Java and on islands in large lakes in Yunnan. Some of the islets and islands are more than fifteen miles from shore.
[edit] Behaviour
The Green Peafowl is a forest bird which nests on the ground laying 3 to 6 eggs.[2]
The male has often been described as being polygynous, with no parental responsibilities whatsoever. He is also described as being very solitary, trying to mate with every female that enters his territory. The females are said to belong in harems, foraging with each other.
However, these are only presuppositions based upon the behaviors of captive or semi-captive Indian peafowl (not Green Peafowl) which are facultatively polygynous and from observations of highly territorial male Green Peafowl guarding nest sites (which researchers may suppose that he is guarding multiple mates), and with both these notions combined it creates a misleading supposition that Green Peafowl are polygamous.
In fact, some researchers, such as K. B. Woods (in litt. 2000), believe that the Green Peafowl are monogamous in the wild. They believe that the male guards the nest for the entire period that it is being used, including the time before actual incubation begins. They also think that the male also guards over the chicks after hatching and that he will often take the chicks under his wings on the nocturnal roost. While the female is incubating or still in the process of creating a clutch, the male stands or perches within sight of the nest site. He is called a dragonbird by natives because of his propensity to attack any animal, large or small that comes anywhere near the nest site.
There is some anectodotal evidence suggesting that Green Peafowl may have very complex social lives that may include the adoption of one and two year old juveniles by their three and four year old sub-adult siblings.
They usually spend time on the ground but roost in trees at a height of 10-15m.[1] The diet consists mainly of seeds, insects, reptiles, fruits and small animals. As with other members of its genus, the Green Peafowl can even hunt venomous snakes, making them useful for pest control.
[edit] Habitat
Green peafowl 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. Green Peafowl chicks and adults are also capable swimmers, and often forage on riverbanks as well as in streams and marshes (K. B. Woods verbally 2000).[1].
[edit] Taxonomy
Most sources agree that there are three distinct subspecies, although some recent work may prove otherwise.
Green Peafowl fossils from the Pliocene and older have been described from Kenya, Southern Europe and Hainan. These fossils are described as Pavo bravardi.
The hominid locality of Aramis (Ethiopia, Early Pliocene), which yielded Ardipithecus ramidus, also comprises a rich vertebrate fauna, including numerous bird remains. Among the avian taxa, a peafowl, Pavo species, is the first evidence of a very large galliform bird in Africa. Pavo sp. illustrates affinities between African and Asian avifaunas in the Pliocene. It is a fossil geographical link between the living peafowl, which are now restricted to South East Asia, and the Congo peacock, Afropavo congensis, that lives in the eastern Congo basin, and is morphologically distinct. The latter was recently established to be the sister taxon of Pavo, from morphological, chromosomal and molecular studies. The Ethiopian fossils are similar to the living Indian Peafowl, Pavo cristatus, and even more to the Green Peafowl, P. muticus. The Congo Peacock Afropavo probably diverged from Pavo around the Middle/Late Miocene.
Afropavo could survive in tropical forests, whereas Pavo disappeared from Africa, probably as a result of environmental changes which occurred in East Africa some time between the Early Pliocene and the Early Pleistocene. Pavo also disappeared from Europe at the same period.
Given the surprising antiquity of peafowl, their systematics are only poorly understood.
The most closely related form to Pavo bravardi, is the possible undescribed subspecies P. m yunnanensis (K. B. Woods in litt. 2000), which is also larger than other forms.
As Afropavo and Pavo split apart during the Miocene and a peafowl very similar to Pavo muticus was well established by the Pliocene, it is surprising to learn that the Indian Peafowl only emerges from its green peafowl ancestral founders ~-two million years ago. Different 'green' peafowl populations may have diverged from one another millions of years before the familiar Indian species came into existence.
[edit] Pavo muticus muticus
P. m. muticus is the nominate subspecies. It is also considered the most colorful, as well as the most critically endangered, with about 1000 individuals in the wild. It is currently confined currently to Java but earlier noted from the Thai-Malay peninsula.[1][3]
However, the notion that the nominate race muticus was the subspecies that existed in the Thai-Malay peninsula remains controversial, even though some genetic work suggests they are identical. Some believe that the samples collected from the birds of Java and Malay got mixed up (accidentally or purposely), or that false information was published. Wolfgang Mennig, a Green Peafowl breeder and conservationist, also noted genetic differences between the two birds and says that the Javan race has another subspecies in the subspecies (Baluran form).
Translated section of a German PDF:[4]
| “ | The Malaysian and the Javan varieties were considered genetically identical and were grouped under the scientific name Pavo muticus muticus. This is not the case anymore. The two varieties are genetically different and the Javan variety even has two genetically different varieties of its own, the (Ujung Kulon-Form/south western Java and Baluran-Form/eastern Java). | ” |
[edit] Pavo muticus spicifer
P. m. spicifer is the dullest and bluest race. Distributed in northeastern India and northwestern Myanmar west of the Irrawady river, it is often mistakingly thought to be extinct.
[edit] Pavo muticus imperator
P. m. imperator is the second brightest race, next to muticus. The Siamese form (picture on top of article) is still very colorful, and also has the brightest facial skin. Some believe the Siamese form is more related to the Indian Peafowl because its voice is louder and shares similar traits. It is found east of the Irrawady river in Indo-China Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia and south to Thailand. Unlike earlier speculations, this subspecies was not the one that existed in the Isthmus of Kra.
Though declining as with the two other races, this subspecies is the least threatened, and there may be more isolated populations in its distrubution. This is also the most taxonomically disputed race, as certain birds seemingly differ from each other.
[edit] Taxonomic disputes
Given the disjunct distribution of the species in isolated islands however, there is the possibility of more isolated populations or subspecies.
Preliminary data from some systematists suggests that the Green Peafowl is actually a complex of several distinct species (muticus, javanensis, spicifer, imperator, annamensis, and antiqus), each with subspecies of their own, and that certain species have evolved similarly with Lophura pheasants.[citation needed]
Additionally, Wolfgang Mennig, a Green Peafowl breeder and private conservationist working for the World Pheasant Association in Germany, believes that the subspecies imperator is really a group of four, or five subspecies: P. m. imperator, P. m. annamensis, P. m. angkorensis, and P. m. laotius. He also suggests that that P. m. yunnanensis could be another subspecies in this group and even says that some taxonomists believe there were ten subspecies, some of which are extinct.
Translated section from a German PDF:[4]
| “ | The subspecies of the Pavo muticus imperator is divided into 4, or if the one that lives in west China yunnanensis counts, 5 different subspecies. Pavo muticus imperator whose range is from central Thailand to Myanmar, annamensis, or vietnamensis within the coastal range of Vietnam from north to south, and angkorensis from Cambodia and the laotius in central Laos. | ” |
[edit] Yunnan Form
The birds inhabiting Yunnan may be a fourth possible subspecies:
| “ | The form in Yunnan is not separated taxonomically but it apparently differs in a few aspects from other forms, particularly in its forest-dwelling habits, an "odd, monal-like bill", a curiously long hind toe and longer, more slender wings (K. B. Woods in litt. 2000). Its taxonomic placement should perhaps be investigated further.[1] | ” |
Madge and McGowan (Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse ISBN 0-7136-3966-0) also suggest that the Yunnan form might merit subspecific status because of its differences from other imperator birds.
Morphologically speaking, some believe that this form is the most closely related to the Pilocene Peafowl Pavo bravardi. It is endemic to mixed tropical pine and broadleaf evergreen forests in the mountains of northern western Yunnan; Southern Eastern most Tibet and southern western Sichuan where it is believed extinct today. This form is significantly larger than other Green Peafowl and lives in much cooler climates than typical Green Peafowls. This region is an important region for Pliocene fossils. Fossil peafowl from Java have also been described from Pleistocene up to the Holocene.
Some actually think that at least four forms of Green Peafowl exist in Yunnan, including this one, the Yunnan form of the "true" imperator, the Annamese form, and the spicifer which may occasionally stray into Yunnan.
Some do, indeed, already believe this is a distinct sub/species (certain taxonomists say new species), and have named it P. (m.) yunnanensis, or P. antiqus, the Yunnan or Deqen Green Peafowl.
[edit] Annamese Form
Another form that apparently differs from other imperator birds is also said to live in parts of Yunnan, as well as certain parts of Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos and Vietnam in the Annamite Range. The male exhibits a bluer head and back plate than other imperator birds and both sexes are said to have a stronger golden sheen similar to muticus. The irides are also unusually pale. Because of all the differences, some believe these birds may also merit subspecific status soon.
When Jean Théodore Delacour examined skins of such birds, he thought they were a mere "individual variation". Opponents of this notion point out that there was more than one bird with such differences, and that the birds did not fit the description of imperator.
Some taxonomists have called the bird P. (m.) annamensis.[4]
In a page on the German WPA site about P. m. imperator also mentions yunnanensis and annamensis. It also says that annamensis, vietnamensis, angkorensis (called angkorensi on the page), and laotius are all the same subspecies and are basically geographical forms or subspecies inside the subspecies of annamensis.
[edit] Status
Due to hunting and a reduction in extent and quality of habitat, the Green Peafowl is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.
Hybridisation with the Indian Peafowl may also be a cause for the decline of the Green Peafowl, damaging the gene stock of captive birds. Certain birds both in the wild and captivity which are thought to be pure Green Peafowl are really hybrids, known by some as "spauldings" or "spaldings".
While many sources say there is no natural range overlap between the two species, feral populations exist in ranges, leading to more hybrids. Hybrids mostly live around Buddhist palaces, and sacred gardens, and often resemble Indian Peafowl with a hint of Green Peafowl shape and color. Some stamp makers have mistaken hybrids for the true Green Peafowl [3].
Although all subspecies are declining, P. m. spicifer and P. m. imperator are not declining as much as P. m. muticus. Some breeders mistakingly say that the race spicifer is extinct, although this is not true. Nonetheless, this subspecies is also declining rapidly. The race/group imperator may still be common (though declining) in isolated parts of its range.
The nominate race supposedly lived in Malaysia, as well as the Isthmus of Kra, but had became extinct in the 1960s.
In 2005, The Star reported that successful reintroductions were being made in Malaysia by the World Pheasant Association (WPA).[5]
However, the reintroductions have not been without controversy. The publication stated that the Javan and Malay form were genetically identical, which has been widely accepted by the scientific community. However, some have not accepted this notion, saying that misinformation may have been published, and that the two forms are behaviourally distinct. More recent genetic work, has also confirmed that the two forms are genetically different.[4] Because of the notion that the two forms were not identical and the possiblility that the form introduced was the Javan, there are concerns that the wrong form was introduced.
However, after taking samples from the birds used and comparing the DNA with museum skins of birds actually from Malaysia, they concluded that the form introduced was the right subspecies (most likely the Malaysian form). It is possible that the WPA was already aware that the two forms were different, and that a genetic comparison of a Malaysian bird with a Javan bird may have never happened.
[edit] Gallery
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 female |
 At Ueno Zoo |
 At Taipei Zoo |
[edit] Media
- Pavo muticus (file info) — Watch in browser
- Video of the Pavo muticus at Disney's Animal Kingdom
- Problems seeing the videos? See media help.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e BirdLife International (2006) Species factsheet: Pavo muticus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 13/1/2007 [1]
- ^ Grimmett, R.; Inskipp, C., and Inskipp, T. (1999). Birds of India: Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04910-6.
- ^ del Hoyo. J.. Elliott. A. & Sargata, J. 1994. Handbook of the birds of the world. Volume 2. New world vultures to guineafowl. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International 1. Barcelona & Cambridge.
- ^ a b c d Mennig, Wolfgang, Die letzte Chance für den Ährenträgerpfau (The last chance for the Green Peafowl (Pavo muticus)?)German PDF
- ^ Chiew, Hilary, The Star, Malaysia, The return of the Green peafowl, 11 January 2005. [2]
Resolution of the Phylogenetic Position of the Congo Peafowl, Afropavo congensis: A Biogeographic and Evolutionary Enigma Rebecca T. Kimball, Edward L. Braun, J. David Ligon Proceedings: Biological Sciences, Vol. 264, No. 1387 (Oct. 22, 1997), pp. 1517-1523
[edit] External links
- BirdLife International (2004). Pavo muticus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 9 November 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is vulnerable
- Arkive images and movies of the Green Peafowl (Pavo muticus)
- BirdLife Species Factsheet
- IUCN Red List
- Red Data Book
- [4]
Categories: Vulnerable species | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Pavo | Birds of Asia | Birds of Southeast Asia | Birds of Cambodia | Birds of China | Birds of Indonesia | Birds of Laos | Birds of Myanmar | Birds of Thailand | Birds of Vietnam
