The crested fireback (''Lophura ignita'') is a medium-sized, up to 70 cm long, forest

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia ...

with a

peacock 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 r ...

-like dark crest, bluish black plumage, reddish brown rump, black outer tail feathers, red

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

and bare blue facial skin. The female is a brown bird with short crest, blue facial skin and spotted black-and-white below. The crested fireback is found in lowland forests of the

Thai-Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula ( Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The ar ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

and Sumatra. There are four subspecies of the crested fireback, but in 2014 the subspecies ''rufa'' was split as a distinct species from the others. Males of the subspecies from Borneo and

Bangka Island Bangka is an island lying east of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is administered under the province of the Bangka Belitung Islands, being one of its namesakes alongside the smaller island of Belitung across the Gaspar Strait. The 9th largest island in ...

, ''L. i. ignita'' (lesser Bornean crested fireback) and ''L. i. nobilis'' (greater Bornean crested fireback), have brown central tail feathers, whitish legs and are

rufous Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish-red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a dia ...

below. The male Vieillot's crested fireback, ''L. rufa'', of the Thai-Malay Peninsula and most of Sumatra has white central tail feathers, red legs and bluish black streaked white below. The final subspecies, Delacour's crested fireback, ''L. i. macartneyi'', is found in south-eastern Sumatra and the male has white to the tail, whitish legs and a variable amount of

below. As ''macartneyi'' specimens are variable, the Handbook of Birds of the World regards it as a hybrid between ''rufa'' and a possible relictual or introduced population of ''ignita''. The female of ''L. i ignita'' and ''L. i. nobilis'' have a dark, blackish tail and whitish legs, while female of ''L. i.a rufa'' has a chestnut brown tail and red legs. Clements and the IUCN has split into both species while the IOC has left all subspecies intact. The diet consists mainly of plants, fruits and small animals. The female usually lays between four and eight creamy white eggs. Due to ongoing habitat loss and overhunting in some areas, the crested fireback is evaluated 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 ...

of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix III of

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet

Red Data Book
crested fireback Birds of Myanmar Birds of Thailand Birds of Malesia crested fireback {{galliformes-stub