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.
Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera Pavo and Afropavo within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are referred to as peahens, even though peafowl of either sex are often referred to colloquially as "peacocks".
Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quails, 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 includes 184 species divided into 54 genera. It 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.
The Indian peafowl, also known as the common peafowl, and blue peafowl, is a peafowl species native to the Indian subcontinent. It has been introduced to many other countries.
The blood pheasant, also known as blood partridge, is the only species in genus Ithaginis and tribe Ithaginini of the pheasant family. It is a relatively small, short-tailed pheasant that is widespread and is fairly common in eastern Himalayas, ranging across India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, and northern Myanmar. Since the trend of the population appears to be slowly decreasing, the species has been evaluated as of least concern by IUCN in 2009.
An argus, or argus pheasant, is a member of the subtribe Argusianina 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 hazel grouse, sometimes called the hazel hen, is one of the smaller members of the grouse family of birds. It is a sedentary species, breeding across the Palearctic as far east as Hokkaido, and as far west as eastern and central Europe, in dense, damp, mixed coniferous woodland, preferably with some spruce. The bird is sometimes referred to as "rabchick" by early 20th century English speaking travellers to Russia.
The crested partridge also known as the crested wood partridge, roul-roul, red-crowned wood partridge, green wood quail or green wood partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. It is the only member of the genus Rollulus.
The Palawan peacock-pheasant is a medium-sized bird in the family Phasianidae.
The great argus is a species of pheasant from Southeast Asia.
The Malayan peacock-pheasant also known as crested peacock-pheasant or Malaysian peacock-pheasant, is a medium-sized pheasant of the galliform family Phasianidae. The closely related Bornean peacock-pheasant was formerly included here as a subspecies, but as understood today, P. malacense is monotypic.
The curl-crested manucode is a species of bird-of-paradise.
The crested argus, genus Rheinardia, is a large and spectacular peafowl-like genus of bird in the pheasant family with dark-brown-spotted black and buff plumage, a heavy pink bill, brown irises and blue skin around the eyes. The head has two crests; the hind crest, which extends down the occiput, is erected when alarmed and during intentional behaviors including pair bonding and courtship displays. The male has a broad and greatly elongated tail of twelve feathers. The tail covert of the male is the longest of any bird and is believed to contain the longest feathers to occur in a wild bird; the Reeves's pheasant has tail feathers of similar length but which are considerably narrower. The tail coverts measure up to 1.73 m (5.7 ft) in length, giving the bird a total length of 1.9–2.39 m (6.2–7.8 ft).
Reeves's pheasant is a large pheasant within the genus Syrmaticus. It is endemic to China. It is named after the British naturalist John Reeves, who first introduced live specimens to Europe in 1831.
The crested fireback is a medium-sized, up to 70 cm long, forest pheasant with a peacock-like dark crest, bluish black plumage, reddish brown rump, black outer tail feathers, red iris and bare blue facial skin. The female is a brown bird with short crest, blue facial skin and spotted black-and-white below.
The crestless fireback is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat destruction and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being "vulnerable".
The buff-crested bustard is a medium-sized bird of East Africa belonging to the family Otididae. The populations are stable and the species is of least concern.
A biological ornament is a characteristic of an animal that appears to serve a decorative function rather than a utilitarian function. Many are secondary sexual characteristics, and others appear on young birds during the period when they are dependent on being fed by their parents. Ornaments are used in displays to attract mates, which may lead to the evolutionary process known as sexual selection. An animal may shake, lengthen, or spread out its ornament in order to get the attention of the opposite sex, which will in turn choose the most attractive one with which to mate. Ornaments are most often observed in males and choosing an extravagantly ornamented male benefits females because the genes that produce the ornament will be passed on to her offspring, increasing their own reproductive fitness. As Ronald Fisher noted, the male offspring will inherit the ornament while the female offspring will inherit the preference for said ornament, which can lead to a positive feedback loop known as a Fisherian runaway. These structures serve as cues to animal sexual behaviour, that is, they are sensory signals that affect mating responses. Therefore, ornamental traits are often selected by mate choice.
The Malayan crested argus is a large and spectacular peafowl-like species of bird in the pheasant family with dark-brown-spotted black and buff plumage, a heavy pink bill, brown irises and blue skin around the eyes. The head has two crests; the hind crest, which extends down the occiput, is erected when alarmed and during intentional behaviors including pair bonding and courtship displays. The male has a broad and greatly elongated tail of twelve feathers. The tail covert of the male is the longest of any bird and is believed to contain the longest feathers to occur in a wild bird; the Reeves's pheasant has tail feathers of similar length but which are considerably narrower. The tail coverts measure up to 1.73 m (5.7 ft) in length, giving the bird a total length of 1.9–2.39 m (6.2–7.8 ft).
