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The Green Peafowl, Pavo muticus (from Latin Pavo, peafowl; muticus, Mute, docked or curtailed)^[1] is a large Galliform bird 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. It is the closest relative of the Indian Peafowl or Blue Peafowl (Pavo cristatus), which is mostly found on the Indian subcontinent.

Description [edit]

Adult Female head and upper neck

Male profile

Unlike the related Indian Peafowl, the sexes of Green Peafowl are quite similar in appearance, especially in the field. Both sexes have long upper tail coverts which cover the actual tail underneath. In the male this extends up to two meters 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 are "scaly" in appearance. In the male, the scapulars, median and greater wing coverts are blue while the lesser coverts are green and form a triangle on the shoulder when the wing is closed. The secondaries are black and in some subspecies the tertiaries are brown and barred with a faint pattern. The female has blue lesser coverts and therefore lacks the "triangle" at the wing shoulder. Overall the female has slightly less iridescence and more barring on the back as well as the primaries. Both sexes have shafted crests, and are long-legged, heavy-winged and long-tailed in silhouette. The facial skin is double striped with a white to light blue and beside the ear is a yellow to orange crescent. 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.^[2]

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 (5.9–9.8 ft) in total length but this includes its tail covert (or "train") which itself measures 1.4–1.6 m (4.6–5.2 ft). 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 (3.3–3.6 ft) in length. By body mass, the Green Peafowl is the most sexual dimorphic of galliforms and among the most dimorphic in size of all birds. The adult male weighs 3.85–5 kg (8.5–11 lb), which is around 4 times as heavy as the adult female, at 1–1.2 kg (2.2–2.6 lb). It has a relatively large wingspan that averages around 1.2 m (3.9 ft) and can reach 1.6 m (5.2 ft) in big males. The Green Peafowl is capable of sustained flight and is often observed on wing.^[3]

Distribution and habitat [edit]

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.^[4] The ranges have reduced with habitat destruction and hunting.^[2]

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.^[5] Proximity to water appears to be an important factor.^[6]

Classification [edit]

1781 painting by Maruyama Okyo

The species was first classified as Pavo muticus by Carolus Linnaeus, although it was previously described in Europe by Ulisse Aldrovandi as "Pavo Iaponensis" based on a Japanese painting given to the pope from 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:^[7][8][9]

• Pavo muticus muticus, the "Java Peafowl" (nominate). Extant population endemic to Java. Extinct populations from the Malay Peninsula from the Kra Isthmus extending south to Kedah have been described as synonymous with the Javanese birds, but this is controversial. Often described as the most colourful of the three subspecies, the neck and breast is a metallic golden-green with cerulean blue wing coverts. Females have prominent barring on the back and tertials.
• P. m. imperator, the "Indo-Chinese Peafowl." From east Burma to Thailand, southern China and Indochina, this subspecies has the widest distribution. Formerly found in Macau and Hainan. imperator is similar to muticus but its neck is a darker green and has more black on its wing coverts and secondaries. The facial skin is more intense in colouration compared to the other races.

P.m. spicifer, captive specimen in Jurong Bird Park

• P. m. spicifer, the "Burmese Peafowl." Found in northwestern Burma towards southwestern Thailand. Formerly also in Bangladesh as well as northern Malaysia. Birds in Northeast India were considered extinct but are still occasionally sighted; the records have sometimes been questioned as feral or escaped birds. This subspecies is larger and has a more robust build compared to other subspecies. Sometimes described as "duller" than the other forms, it has a matte gun metal-blue to olive-green neck and breast, and more black on the wing-coverts and outer web of secondaries. The crown of the male is violet-blue which often extends further back of the neck than other subspecies, demarcating the colours of the crown and neck.

Delacour dismissed several aberrant specimens to be individual variations, but stated that through further research, more subspecies may be discovered. 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. ^[10] The authors of a study in China, which was mainly to determine the divergence period between Green and Indian Peafowl, also support this theory. They note there appears to be two different forms of Green Peafowl in Yunnan which should be classified as distinct subspecies.^[11] Although research by Ettore Randi suggested that the Green Peafowl of Malaysia were the same subspecies as the extant muticus muticus of Java, further research has shown the two populations were not the same. Compared to the extant population in Java, which have straight green crest, the Malay birds, which still exist in captivity, had a blue diffused crest that often falls forward. Due to imperator's large range in Indochina, other subspecies within its range have also been proposed. ^[12] There also appears to be regional differences within the imperator birds of Thailand and the muticus of Java. ^[13]

Behaviour [edit]

The Green Peafowl is a forest bird which nests on the ground laying 3 to 6 eggs.^[14]

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.^[2]

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.^[2] The diet consists mainly of fruits, invertebrates, reptiles, and other small animals. 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. Frogs and other aquatic small animals probably make up the bulk of the diet of growing birds.

Painting by Daniel Giraud Elliot.

Status [edit]

Due to hunting and a reduction in extent and quality of habitat, 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 in Java, Indonesia. The population in the wild was estimated to be about 5,000 to 10,000 individuals around 1995.^[2]

Although there is no natural range overlap with the Indian Peafowl, hybridisation with the Indian Peafowl is still a threat. The two species produce fertile hybrids and feral Indian Peafowl may hybridize with wild Green Peafowl. In captivity hybrids are called "spaulding" peafowl and are used by breeders to create different breeds. Through backcrossing some hybrids become almost indistinguishable from pure Green Peafowl. ^[15] Because some aviculturists refer to all races as "Java Peafowl", the subspecies of Green Peafowl are also mixed in captivity.

In 2005, The Star reported that successful reintroductions were being made in Malaysia by the World Pheasant Association (WPA).^[16] 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. There has, however, been some dispute that the Malaysian and Javanese muticus birds are not identical so it is uncertain which subspecies was introduced. ^[15] At least some of the birds introduced in Malaysia were actually spicifer, which was once found on the northern tip of the country.

National symbol [edit]

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

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.^[17] 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.

Fighting peacock

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

References [edit]