The Congo peafowl (''Afropavo congensis''), also known as the African peafowl or ''mbulu'' by the Bakôngo, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

peafowl 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 refe ...

native to the

Congo Basin The Congo Basin (french: Bassin du Congo) is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It con ...

. It is one of three peafowl species and the only member of the subfamily

Pavoninae The Phasianinae ( Horsfield, 1821) 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 consid ...

native to Africa. It is listed as Vulnerable on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

History

Dr. Chapin noticed that the native Congolese headdresses contained long reddish-brown feathers that he could not identify with any previously known species of bird. Later, Chapin visited the

Royal Museum of Central Africa The Royal Museum for Central Africa or RMCA ( nl, Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika or KMMA; french: Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale or MRAC; german: Königliches Museum für Zentralafrika or KMZA), also officially known as the AfricaMuse ...

and saw two stuffed specimens with similar feathers labeled as the 'Indian peacock' which he later discovered to be the Congo peafowl, a completely different species. In 1955 Chapin managed to find seven specimens of the species. The Congo peafowl has physical characteristics of both the peafowl and the

guineafowl Guineafowl (; sometimes called "pet speckled hens" or "original fowl") are birds of the family Numididae in the order Galliformes. They are endemic to Africa and rank among the oldest of the gallinaceous birds. Phylogenetically, they branched o ...

, which may indicate that the species is a link between the two families.

Description

Afropavo congensis -Artis Zoo -Netherlands -female-8a

Afropavo congensis -Artis Zoo -Netherlands -male -head-8a

The male (pea''cock'') of this species is a large bird of up to in length. Though much less impressive than its

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

tic cousins, the male's feathers are nevertheless deep blue with a

metallic Metallic may be a reference to: *Metal *Metalloid, metal-like substance *Metallic bonding, type of chemical bonding *Metallicity, in astronomy the proportion of elements other than helium and hydrogen in an object *Metallic color, a color that g ...

green and violet tinge. It has bare red neck skin, grey feet, and a black tail with fourteen tail feathers. Its crown is adorned with vertical white elongated hair-like feathers. The female (pea''hen'') measures up to in length and is generally a chestnut brown bird with a black abdomen, metallic green back, and a short chestnut brown crest. Both sexes resemble immature Asian peafowl, with early stuffed birds being erroneously classified as such before they were officially designated as members of a unique species.BirdLife International (2014) Species factsheet: Afropavo congensis. Downloaded from

Distribution and habitat

The Congo peafowl inhabits and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Central Congolian lowland forests The Central Congolian lowland forests are an ecoregion within the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is a remote, inaccessible area of low-lying dense wet forest, undergrowth and swamp in the Cuvette Centrale region of the Congo Basin south o ...

of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

where it has also been designated the

national bird This is a list of national birds, including official birds of overseas territories and other states described as nations. Most species in the list are officially designated. Some species hold only an "unofficial" status. National birds See al ...

. It occurs in both primary and secondary forest in

Salonga National Park Salonga National Park is a national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo located in the Congo River basin. It is Africa's largest tropical rainforest reserve covering about 36,000 km2 or . It extends into the provinces of Mai Ndombe, ...

. Secondary signs of its presence like droppings and feathers were more frequently encountered in regenerating secondary forest than in primary forest. In secondary forest, its droppings were found close to watercourses, where trees were smaller and plant diversity lower than in primary forest. In the 1990s, it was recorded in

Maiko National Park Maiko National Park is a national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It lies in one of the most remote forest areas of the country and covers . The park is divided into three sectors, straddling the states of Nord Kivu, Province Orien ...

, foremost in low hills and ridges between watersheds.

Behaviour and ecology

The Congo peafowl is an

omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutr ...

with a diet consisting mainly of fruits and insects. In

, its diet includes fruits from ''

Allanblackia floribunda ''Allanblackia floribunda'', known in English as 'tallow tree', is a species of flowering plant in the family Clusiaceae that has been long used in traditional African medicine to treat hypertension. It is a common understory tree in rainforests i ...

'',

junglesop ''Anonidium mannii'', the junglesop, is a fast-growing tropical African tree that grows to 8–30 m high, with a girth of up to 2 m.Useful plants of Bas-Congo province, DR Congo (2004) It has 20–40 cm long leaves and large flowe ...

, ''

Canarium schweinfurthii ''Canarium schweinfurthii'' (commonly known as the bush candle, African olive, African elemi, or canarium), is a species of large tree native to tropical Africa.ICRAF Names in many African languages are variations of ''mupafu''. Description Bec ...

'',

oil palm ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms containing two species, called oil palms. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African oil palm ''Elaeis guineensis'' (the species name ''guineensis'' referring to its co ...

, ''

Klainedoxa gabonensis ''Klainedoxa gabonensis'' is a large tropical African tree of the family Irvingiaceae growing to 40m in height. Its straight trunk is buttressed and up to 25m long, while its spreading evergreen crown makes it one of the largest trees of the rai ...

'',

African breadfruit ''Treculia africana'' is a tree species in the genus ''Treculia'' which can be used as a food plant and for various other traditional uses. The fruits are hard and fibrous, can be the size of a volleyball and weight up to . Chimpanzees The ...

, and ''

Xylopia aethiopica ''Xylopia aethiopica'' is an evergreen, aromatic tree, of the Annonaceae family that can grow up to 20m high. It is a native to the lowland rainforest and moist fringe forests in the savanna zones of Africa. The dried fruits of ''X. aethiopica'' ...

'' and a multitude of insects, spiders, mollusks and worms. In Salonga National Park, its diet is taxonomically narrower in secondary forest than in

primary forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

. The male has a similar display to that of other species of peafowl, though the Congo peacock actually fans its tail feathers while other peacocks fan their upper tail

covert feather A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are sm ...

s. The Congo peafowl is monogamous, though detailed mating information from the wild is still needed. The peacock of the species has a high-pitched "''gowe''" calling noise while the peahen emits a low "''gowah''". They have loud

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

s consisting of "''rro-ho-ho-o-a''" from both sexes.

Threats

The Congo peafowl is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

caused by

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

shifting cultivation Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cul ...

and

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

Conservation

The Congo peafowl is listed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List. As of 2013, the wild population was estimated at between 2,500 and 9,000 adult individuals. Given its use of regenerating forest in Salonga National Park, secondary forests might be an important habitat to include in a conservation strategy. Captive breeding programs were initiated in the Belgian

Antwerp Zoo Antwerp Zoo ( nl, ZOO Antwerpen) is a zoo in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium, located next to the Antwerpen-Centraal railway station. It is the oldest animal park in the country, and one of the oldest in the world, established on 21 July 1843. ...

and at Salonga National Park.

In popular culture

In the 1999

Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during t ...

novel ''

Blue at the Mizzen The novel ''Blue at the Mizzen'' is the twentieth and last completed historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1999. It is set after the Napoleonic wars, in the fight for Chilean independence from Sp ...

,'' set shortly after the conclusion of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, Dr. Stephen Maturin is interested to learn of the rumored existence of the Congo peafowl (to which he refers as the "Congo peacock") from a naturalist friend in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

References

External links

Images and movies of the Congo Peacock ''(Afropavo congensis)''
�� ARKive

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20050324030132/http://gbwf.org/pheasants/congo.html Congo Peacock ''(Afropavo congensis)''��gbwf.org
Kimball, R.T, Braun, E.L. and J. D. Ligon (1997). "Resolution of the phylogenetic position of the Congo Peafowl, ''Afropavo congensis'': a biogeographic and evolutionary enigma". ''Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B'' 264:1517–1523
{{Taxonbar, from=Q338996

Congo peafowl The Congo peafowl (''Afropavo congensis''), also known as the African peafowl or ''mbulu'' by the Bakôngo, is a species of peafowl native to the Congo Basin. It is one of three peafowl species and the only member of the subfamily Pavoninae nati ...

Pavonini Birds of Central Africa Endemic birds of the Democratic Republic of the Congo