The kalij pheasant (''Lophura leucomelanos'') is a
pheasant
Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family (biology), family Phasianidae in the order (biology), order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera na ...
found in forests and thickets, especially in the
Himalaya
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
n foothills, from
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
to western
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
. Males are rather variable depending on the
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
involved, but all have at least partially glossy bluish-black
plumage
Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...
, while females are overall brownish. Both sexes have a bare red face and greyish legs (the latter separating it from the red-legged
silver pheasant
The silver pheasant (''Lophura nycthemera'') is a species of pheasant found in forests, mainly in mountains, of mainland Southeast Asia and eastern and southern China, with an introduced population on Victoria Island in Nahuel Huapi Lake, Neu ...
).
[McGowan, P. J. K. (1994). Kalij Pheasant (''Lophura leucomelanos''). pp. 533 in: del Hoyo, J, A. Elliott, & J. Sargatal (1994). '']Handbook of the Birds of the World
The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...
''. Vol. 2. New World Vultures to Guineafowl. Lynx Edictions. It is generally common and widespread, though three of its eastern subspecies (''L. l. oatesi'', ''L. l. lineata'', and ''L. l. crawfurdi'') are considered
threatened
Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensat ...
and ''L. l. moffitti'' is virtually unknown in the wild.
[ On 21 October 2021, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir declared ''Kalij Pheasant'' as bird of the ]Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir is a region administered by India as a union territory and consists of the southern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947, and between India and ...
.
The name is also spelled kaleege in old texts, such as ''Game Birds of India and Asia'' by Frank Finn
Frank Finn FZS, MBOU (1868 – 1 October 1932) was an English ornithologist.
Finn was born in Maidstone and educated at Maidstone Grammar School and Brasenose College, Oxford. He went on a collecting expedition to East Africa in 1892, a ...
, though no longer in his ''Indian Sporting Birds''. The species was introduced to Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
in 1962 as a gamebird
Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are often ...
."Lophura leucomelanos , Kalij pheasant"
''hawaiibirdingtrails.hawaii.gov''. State of Hawaii. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
Taxonomy
The kalij pheasant is closely related to the silver pheasant, and the two are known to
hybridize
Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to:
*Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid
*Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals
*Nu ...
.
[MacKinnon, J., & K. Phillipps (2000). ''A Field Guide to the Birds of China.'' Oxford University Press. ] The placement of the
taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
''L. l. lineata'' and ''L. l. crawfurdi'' has been a matter of dispute, with some treating them as subspecies of the kalij pheasant
[ and others as subspecies of the silver pheasant.][McGowan, P. J. K., A. L. Panchen (1994). ''Plumage variation and geographical distribution in the Kalij and Silver Pheasants.'' ]Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club
The ''Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club'' is an ornithological journal published by the British Ornithologists' Club (BOC). It is cited as ''Bull. B. O. C.''
Many descriptions of birds new to science have been published in the bulleti ...
. 114: 113-123. They have greyish legs as in the kalij pheasant, but their plumage
Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...
is closer to that of some subspecies of the silver pheasant. Additionally, as the silver pheasant, ''L. l. lineata'' and ''L. l. crawfurdi'' are found east of the Irrawaddy River
The Irrawaddy River ( Ayeyarwady River; , , from Indic ''revatī'', meaning "abounding in riches") is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Origi ...
, a major zoogeographic
Zoogeography is the branch of the science of biogeography that is concerned with geographic distribution (present and past) of animal species.
As a multifaceted field of study, zoogeography incorporates methods of molecular biology, genetics, mo ...
barrier, while all other subspecies of the kalij pheasant are found west of the river (''L. l. oatesi'', a subspecies of the kalij pheasant, has sometimes been reported as occurring east of that river,[ but this is incorrect][Robson, C. (2000). ''A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia.'' New Holland Publishers. ]). Based on mtDNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...
, it was recently confirmed that ''L. l. lineata'' and ''L. l. crawfurdi'' should be regarded as subspecies of the kalij pheasant.[Moulin, S., E. Randi, C. Tabarroni, & A. Hennache (2003). ''Mitochondrial DNA diversification among the subspecies of the Silver and Kalij Pheasants, Lophura nycthemera and L. leucomelanos, Phasianidae.'' ]Ibis
The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...
145: E1-E11
Subspecies
The nine recognized subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of the kalij pheasant are, in taxonomic order:
* ''L. l. hamiltoni'' – white-crested kalij pheasant – western Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
* ''L. l. leucomelanos'' – nominate
Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list.
Political office
In the ...
– forests of Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
* ''L. l. melanota'' – black-backed kalij pheasant – Sikkim
Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...
and western Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
* ''L. l. moffitti'' – black kalij pheasant – central Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
* ''L. l. lathami'' – Horsfield's pheasant – eastern Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
and northern India to Myanmar
* ''L. l. williamsi'' – Williams' kalij pheasant – western Myanmar
* ''L. l. oatesi'' – Oates' kalij pheasant – southern Myanmar
* ''L. l. crawfurdi'' – Crawfurd's pheasant – southeastern Myanmar to peninsular Thailand
* ''L. l. lineata'' – lineated pheasant – southern Myanmar to northwestern Thailand
Description
Males have a total length of and females .[ Height is... Very roughly, the subspecies can be divided into two main groups, with the first (subspecies ''L. l. hamiltoni'', ''L. l. leucomelanos'', ''L. l. melanota'', ''L. l. moffitti'', and ''Vlathami'') being found in the western and central part of the species' range, while the second (''L. l. williamsi'', ''L. l. oatesi'', ''L. l. lineata'', and ''L. l. crawfurdi'') is found in the eastern part. In the males of the first group, most of plumage is glossy blue-black, though with white to the rump or underparts in most subspecies, and in ''L. l. hamiltoni'', the westernmost subspecies, the crest is white (all other have a blue-black crest). In the second group, the underparts and crest are glossy blue-black, but the tail and upperparts are white (or very pale grey) with most feathers densely vermiculated with black.][
Females are brownish. In some subspecies, the underparts are distinctly marked in whitish and black, while in others, most feathers are pale-edged, resulting in a scaly appearance.]
UT Bird of Jammu and Kashmir
On 21 October 2021, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir declared Kalij Pheasant as bird of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir is a region administered by India as a union territory and consists of the southern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947, and between India and ...
.
Kalij Pheasant is known as Wan Kokur, Wan Kokud or Ban Kokur in the Kashmiri language
Kashmiri () or Koshur (, /kəːʃur/) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by around 7 million Kashmiris of the Kashmir region, primarily in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
In 2020, the Parliament of India passed a bill to make ...
, which can be translated as ''wild cock''.
References
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q840349
kalij pheasant
The kalij pheasant (''Lophura leucomelanos'') is a pheasant found in forests and thickets, especially in the Himalayan foothills, from Pakistan to western Thailand. Males are rather variable depending on the subspecies involved, but all have at ...
Birds of the Himalayas
Birds of Pakistan
Birds of Eastern Himalaya
Birds of Myanmar
kalij pheasant
The kalij pheasant (''Lophura leucomelanos'') is a pheasant found in forests and thickets, especially in the Himalayan foothills, from Pakistan to western Thailand. Males are rather variable depending on the subspecies involved, but all have at ...
kalij pheasant
The kalij pheasant (''Lophura leucomelanos'') is a pheasant found in forests and thickets, especially in the Himalayan foothills, from Pakistan to western Thailand. Males are rather variable depending on the subspecies involved, but all have at ...