Pheasants are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Though they can be found world over in introduced populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia. The classification "pheasant" is paraphyletic, as birds referred to as pheasants are included within both the subfamilies Phasianinae and Pavoninae, and in many cases are more closely related to smaller phasianids, grouse, and turkey than to other pheasants.
Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini or subfamily Tetraoninae, a classification supported by mitochondrial DNA sequence studies, and applied by the American Ornithologists' Union, ITIS, International Ornithological Congress,and others. Grouse inhabit temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, from pine forests to moorland and mountainside, from 83°N to 28°N.
Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkey, chicken, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important as seed dispersers and predators in the ecosystems they inhabit, and are often reared by humans for their meat and eggs, or hunted as game birds.
The Phasianidae are a family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular gamebirds. The family is a large one, and was formerly broken up into two subfamilies, the Phasianinae and the Perdicinae. However, this treatment is now known to be paraphyletic, and more recent evidence supports breaking it up into three subfamilies: Rollulinae, Phasianinae, and Pavoninae. Sometimes, additional families and birds are treated as part of this family. For example, the American Ornithologists' Union includes the Tetraonidae (grouse), Numididae (guineafowl), and Meleagrididae (turkeys) as subfamilies in Phasianidae.
Francolins are birds that traditionally have been placed in the genus Francolinus, but now commonly are divided into multiple genera, although some of the major taxonomic listing sources have yet to divide them. The francolins' closest relatives are the junglefowl, long-billed partridge, Alectoris and Coturnix. Together this monophyletic group may warrant family status as the Gallusinidae or in a sub-family Gallusininae. The pheasant Phasianinae and partridge Perdicinae families of the "Order of Phasianidae" have been established as paraphyletic.
An argus, or argus pheasant, is a member of a clade in the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, containing two species of bird that are closely related to peafowl. It has hundreds or thousands of tiny white spots on its plumage pattern, and thus its naming might have been in reference to the mythical hundred-eyed giant, Argus Panoptes.
The swamp francolin, also called swamp partridge, is a partridge species native to the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India and Nepal. It is considered extinct in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Bamboo partridges, sometimes called ridge partridges, are medium-sized non-migratory birds of the genus Bambusicola in the family Phasianidae.They have a wide native distribution throughout Asia. They were formerly grouped in the Perdicinae subfamily of the Phasianidae. However, molecular research suggests that partridges are not a distinct taxon within the family Phasianidae, but that some species are closer to the pheasants, while others are closer to the junglefowl. Phylogenetic evidence supports the bamboo partridges as being the sister genus to the junglefowl.
Rhizothera is a bird genus in the family Phasianidae, native to Malaysia and Indonesia. They are the only genus in the tribe Rhizotherini. Established by George Robert Gray in 1841, it contains the following species:
The Phasianinae are a subfamily of the pheasant family (Phasianidae) of landfowl, the order Galliformes. The subfamily includes true pheasants, tragopans, grouse, turkey and similar birds. Although this subfamily was considered monophyletic and separated from the partridges, francolins, and Old World quails (Perdicinae) till the early 1990s, molecular phylogenies have shown that this placement is paraphyletic. For example, some partridges (genus Perdix) are more closely affiliated to pheasants, whereas Old World quails and partridges from the genus Alectoris are closer to junglefowls. Due to this, Phasianinae was redefined in 2021 as containing all genera more closely allied to Phasianus than to Pavoninae or Rollulinae; several groups formerly included in Phasianinae, such as peafowl and junglefowl, were placed into Pavoninae. Phasianinae is believed to have diverged from Pavoninae during the early Oligocene, about 30 million years ago.
Pternistis is a genus of galliform birds formerly classified in the spurfowl group of the partridge subfamily of the pheasant family. They are described as "partridge-francolins" in literature establishing their phylogenetic placement outside the monophyletic assemblage of true spurfowls. All species are endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa, excepted the double-spurred spurfowl. They are commonly known as spurfowls or francolins, but are closely related to jungle bush quail, Alectoris rock partridges, and Coturnix quail. The species are strictly monogamous, remaining mated indefinitely. They procure most of their food by digging. Spurfowls subsist almost entirely on roots, beans of leguminous shrubs and trees, tubers, and seeds, and feasting opportunistically on termites, ants, locusts, flowers, and fruit. Important predators are jackals, caracals, servals, and birds of prey, as well as herons and marabou storks.
Polyplectronini is a tribe of bird in the subfamily Pavoninae. It contains three genera from tropical Asia; two found in Southeast Asia, and one endemic to the southern Indian subcontinent. They are thought to be the sister group to the Pavonini, which contains the peafowl and arguses. This grouping was supported by a 2021 phylogenetic analysis of Galliformes, and has been accepted by the International Ornithological Congress.
The Pavoninae are a subfamily of the pheasant family (Phasianidae) of landfowl, the order Galliformes. This subfamily includes the peafowl, arguses, peacock-pheasants, spurfowl, junglefowl, francolins, and Old World quail. Pavoninae is believed to have diverged from Phasianinae during the early Oligocene, about 30 million years ago.
Tropicoperdix is a genus of two species of birds in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. Although formerly classified in the now-defunct subfamily Perdicinae, phylogenetic evidence supports them being the most basal members of the tribe Pavonini, which also contains the much larger and more brightly-colored peafowl and arguses.
Ortygornis is a genus of bird in the francolin group of the family Phasianidae.
Lophophorini is a tribe of bird in the subfamily Phasianinae. It contains three genera of pheasant found throughout Asia. This grouping was supported by a 2021 phylogenetic analysis of Galliformes, and accepted by the International Ornithological Congress.
Phasianini is a tribe of birds in the subfamily Phasianinae. It contains the true pheasants, as well as the true partridges. Species in this tribe are found throughout Europe and Asia. This grouping was supported by a 2021 phylogenetic analysis of Galliformes, and accepted by the International Ornithological Congress.
Pavonini is a tribe of bird in the subfamily Pavoninae. Members of this family are primarily found in tropical Asia, along with one species in the Congo Rainforest in Africa. It contains two of the most charismatic members of the Phasianidae, the peafowl and the arguses, but it also contains the two relatively unassuming species in the genus Tropicoperdix, which was formerly thought conspecific with Arborophila until phylogenetic studies elucidated their relationship to the peafowl. This grouping was supported by a 2021 phylogenetic analysis of Galliformes, and accepted by the International Ornithological Congress.
Gallini is a tribe of bird in the subfamily Pavoninae. It includes the bamboo partridges, francolins and junglefowl. Members of this tribe are found in both Asia and tropical Africa. This grouping was supported by a 2021 phylogenetic analysis of Galliformes, and has been accepted by the International Ornithological Congress.
Coturnicini is a tribe of bird in the subfamily Pavoninae. It contains the Old World quail, snowcocks, and African spurfowl, among others. Members of this tribe have a wide range throughout Africa, Eurasia, and Australasia. This tribe contains the only members of Pavoninae native to continental Europe, as well as the only members of Phasianidae as a whole native to Australasia. This grouping was supported by a 2021 phylogenetic analysis of Galliformes, and has been accepted by the International Ornithological Congress.
