Green Peafowl

by Winston D Munnings

Title

Green Peafowl

Artist

Winston D Munnings

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photography

Description

The Green Peafowl Pavo muticus (from Latin Pavo, peafowl; muticus, docked or curtailed) is a large Galliform bird that is found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is the closest relative of the Indian Peafowl aka Blue Peafowl (Pavo cristatus), which is mostly found on the Indian subcontinent.

The sexes of Green Peafowl are quite similar in appearance, especially in the field. During most of the year, when the males have no visible trains, it is quite difficult to distinguish the sexes. Both sexes have tall pointed crests, and are long-legged, heavy-winged and long-tailed in silhouette. 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.

The males of the subspecies imperator and spicifer are overall bluish-green, the former having a metallic-green breast, neck, wing-coverts and outer webs of secondaries, whereas the latter has a duller, bluer breast and neck, and more black on the wing-coverts and outer web of secondaries. Compared to these, Nominate muticus is overall more golden-green and has less blue on the neck and breast. Considerable variation exists in plumage of neck and breast which may be linked with age and sex. The male of the Green Peafowl 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 males call from their roost sites at dawn and dusk. Green Peafowl are large birds, one of the largest living Galliforms in terms of overall length and wingspan, though rather lighter-bodied than the Wild Turkey. The male grows up to 3 meters (10 ft) long, including the “train” and weighs up to 5 kg (11 lbs). The female is 1.1 meter (3.5 ft) long and weighs about 1.1 kg (2.4 lbs). It has large wingspan of approximately 1.2 m (4 ft).

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July 11th, 2014

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