Galliformes is an

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

of heavy-bodied ground-feeding

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s that includes turkeys,

chickens The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New ...

, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are often reared by humans for their meat and eggs, or hunted as game birds. The order contains about 290

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 appropriat ...

, inhabiting every

continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

except Antarctica, and divided into five families:

Phasianidae The Phasianidae are a family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular gamebirds. The family is a large one ...

(including chicken, quail, partridges, pheasants, turkeys, peafowl (peacocks) and grouse), Odontophoridae (New World quail),

Numididae 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 ...

(guinea fowl),

Cracidae The chachalacas, guans and curassows are birds in the family Cracidae. These are species of tropical and subtropical Central and South America. The range of one species, the plain chachalaca, just reaches southernmost parts of Texas in the Unite ...

(including chachalacas and curassows), and Megapodiidae (incubator birds like

malleefowl The malleefowl (''Leipoa ocellata'') is a stocky ground-dwelling Australian bird about the size of a domestic chicken (to which it is distantly related). It is notable for the large nesting mounds constructed by the males and lack of parental ca ...

and brush-turkeys). They adapt to most environments except for innermost

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

s and perpetual ice. Many gallinaceous species are skilled runners and escape predators by running rather than flying. Males of most species are more colorful than the females, with often elaborate courtship behaviors that include strutting, fluffing of tail or head feathers, and vocal sounds. They are mainly nonmigratory. Several species have been

domesticated Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which humans assume a significant degree of control over the reproduction and care of another group of organisms to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that group. A ...

during their long and extensive relationships with humans. The name ''galliformes'' derives from " gallus", Latin for "

rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

". Common names are gamefowl or gamebirds, landfowl, gallinaceous birds, or galliforms. Galliforms and waterfowl (order

Anseriformes Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...

) are collectively called ''fowl''.

Systematics and evolution

The living Galliformes were once divided into seven or more families. Despite their distinctive appearance, grouse and turkeys probably do not warrant separation as families due to their recent origin from

partridge A partridge is a medium-sized galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They are sometimes grouped in the Perd ...

- or

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 ...

-like birds. The turkeys became larger after their ancestors colonized temperate and subtropical

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

, where pheasant-sized competitors were absent. The ancestors of grouse, though, adapted to harsh climates and could thereby colonize

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of humid continental regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Scandinavia, Siberia, and the Cairngorms. Genera ...

regions. Consequently, the

are expanded in current taxonomy to include the former Tetraonidae and

Meleagrididae Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochond ...

as subfamilies. The

(

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which ...

) and the Galliformes together make up the Galloanserae. They are basal among the living neognathous birds, and normally follow the

Paleognathae Palaeognathae (; ) is a infraclass of birds, called paleognaths, within the class Aves of the clade Archosauria. It is one of the two extant infraclasses of birds, the other being Neognathae, both of which form Neornithes. Palaeognathae contain ...

(ratites and tinamous) in modern bird classification systems. This was first proposed in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy and has been the one major change of that proposed scheme that was almost universally adopted. However, the Galliformes as they were traditionally delimited are called Gallomorphae in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, which splits the

and Megapodiidae as an

"Craciformes". This is not a natural group, however, but rather an erroneous result of the now-obsolete phenetic methodology employed in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy. Phenetic studies do not distinguish between

plesiomorph In phylogenetics, a plesiomorphy ("near form") and symplesiomorphy are synonyms for an ancestral character shared by all members of a clade, which does not distinguish the clade from other clades. Plesiomorphy, symplesiomorphy, apomorphy, ...

ic and

apomorph In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have ...

ic characters, which leads to basal lineages appearing as

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gr ...

groups. Historically, the buttonquails (Turnicidae),

mesite The mesites (Mesitornithidae) are a family of birds that are part of a clade (Columbimorphae) that include Columbiformes and Pterocliformes. They are smallish flightless or near flightless birds endemic to Madagascar. They are the only family wit ...

s (Mesitornithidae) and the

hoatzin The hoatzin ( ) or hoactzin ( ), (''Opisthocomus hoazin''), is the only species in the order Opisthocomiformes. It is a species of tropical bird found in swamps, riparian forests, and mangroves of the Amazon and the Orinoco basins in South Ameri ...

(''Opisthocomus hoazin'') were placed in the Galliformes, too. The former are now known to be

shorebirds 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

adapted to an inland lifestyle, whereas the mesites are probably closely related to pigeons and doves. The relationships of the hoatzin are entirely obscure, and it is usually treated as a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

order Opisthocomiformes to signify this. The fossil record for the Galliformes is incomplete.

Evolution

Galloanserae-like birds were one of the main survivors of the K-T Event, that killed off the rest of the dinosaurs. The dominant birds of the dinosaur era were the

enantiornithes The Enantiornithes, also known as enantiornithines or enantiornitheans in literature, are a group of extinct avialans ("birds" in the broad sense), the most abundant and diverse group known from the Mesozoic era. Almost all retained teeth and cla ...

, toothed birds that dominated the trees and skies. Unlike those enantiornithes, the ancestors of the galliformes were a niche group that were toothless and ground-dwelling. When the asteroid impact killed off all non-avian dinosaurs, and the dominant birds, it destroyed all creatures that lived in trees and on open ground. The enantiornithes were wiped out, but the ancestors of galliformes were small and lived in the ground (or water:

) which protected them from the blast and destruction.

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s of these galliform-like birds originate in the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

, most notably those of ''

Austinornis lentus ''Austinornis'' is a genus of prehistoric birds related to Galliformes. It is known from a fossil partial tarsometatarsus The tarsometatarsus is a bone that is only found in the lower leg of birds and some non-avian dinosaurs. It is formed ...

''. Its partial left

tarsometatarsus The tarsometatarsus is a bone that is only found in the lower leg of birds and some non-avian dinosaurs. It is formed from the fusion of several bones found in other types of animals, and homologous to the mammalian tarsus (ankle bones) and me ...

was found in the

Austin Chalk The Austin Chalk is an upper Cretaceous geologic formation in the Gulf Coast region of the United States. It is named after type section outcrops near Austin, Texas. The formation is made up of chalk and marl. Fossils The putative galloanseran ...

near

Fort McKinney, Texas A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere' ...

, dating to about 85 million years ago (Mya). This bird was quite certainly closely related to Galliformes, but whether it was a part of these or belongs elsewhere in the little-known galliform branch of Galloanserae is not clear. However, in 2004, Clarke classified it as a member of the larger group Pangalliformes, more closely related to chickens than to ducks, but not a member of the

crown group In phylogenetics, the crown group or crown assemblage is a collection of species composed of the living representatives of the collection, the most recent common ancestor of the collection, and all descendants of the most recent common ancestor ...

that includes all modern galliformes. Another specimen,

PVPH Museo Municipal Carmen Funes, or, the Carmen Funes Municipal Museum, is a museum of paleontology in Plaza Huincul, Neuquén Province, Argentina. It is best known for its collection of dinosaur fossils, including the only specimen of the largest re ...

237, from the Late Cretaceous

Portezuelo Formation The Portezuelo Formation is a geologic formation of Late Cretaceous ( Late Turonian to Early Coniacian) age, outcropping in the Mendoza, Río Negro and Neuquén provinces of Argentina.Turonian The Turonian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the second age in the Late Cretaceous Epoch, or a stage in the Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 93.9 ± 0.8 Ma and 89.8 ± 1 Ma (million years ago). The Turonian is preceded b ...

Coniacian The Coniacian is an age or stage in the geologic timescale. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series and spans the time between 89.8 ± 1 Ma and 86.3 ± 0.7 Ma (million years ago). The Coniacian is preceded ...

, about 90 Mya) in the

Sierra de Portezuelo Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain range i ...

(

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

) has also been suggested to be an early galliform relative. This is a partial

coracoid A coracoid (from Greek κόραξ, ''koraks'', raven) is a paired bone which is part of the shoulder assembly in all vertebrates except therian mammals (marsupials and placentals). In therian mammals (including humans), a coracoid process is prese ...

of a neornithine bird, which in its general shape and particularly the wide and deep attachment for the muscle joining the coracoid and the

humerus The humerus (; ) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extremity consists of a r ...

bone resembles the more basal lineages of galliforms. Additional galliform-like pangalliformes are represented by

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

families from the

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning o ...

, namely the Gallinuloididae, Paraortygidae and Quercymegapodiidae. In the early

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configu ...

, some additional birds may or may not be early Galliformes, though even if they are, they are unlikely to belong to extant families: * †'' Argillipes'' (London Clay Early Eocene of England) * †'' Coturnipes'' (Early Eocene of England, and Virginia, USA?) * †''

Palaeophasianus ''Palaeophasianus'' is an extinct genus of flightless Geranoididae birds that lived in North America during the Eocene period. Robert Wilson Shufeldt classified ''Palaeophasianus'' as a galliform when he described it in 1913. However it was tran ...

'' (Willwood Early Eocene of Bighorn County, USA) * †'' Percolinus'' (London Clay Early Eocene of England) * †'' Amitabha'' (Bridger middle Eocene of Forbidden City, USA) – phasianid? * †''"Palaeorallus" alienus'' (middle Oligocene of Tatal-Gol, Mongolia) * †'' Anisolornis'' (Santa Cruz Middle Miocene of Karaihen, Argentina) From the mid-

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', ...

onwards – about 45 Mya or so, true galliforms are known, and these completely replace their older relatives in the early

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

. Since the earliest representatives of living galliform families apparently belong to the

– the youngest family of galliforms, the other families of Galliformes must be at least of

Early Eocene In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age or lowest stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by the Eocene Lutetian Age. The Ypresian ...

origin but might even be as old as the Late Cretaceous. The

ichnotaxon An ichnotaxon (plural ichnotaxa) is "a taxon based on the fossilized work of an organism", i.e. the non-human equivalent of an artifact. ''Ichnotaxa'' comes from the Greek ίχνος, ''ichnos'' meaning ''track'' and ταξις, ''taxis'' meaning ...

''Tristraguloolithus cracioides'' is based on fossil eggshell fragments from the Late Cretaceous

Oldman Formation The Oldman Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Late Cretaceous (Campanian stage) age that underlies much of southern Alberta, Canada. It consists primarily of sandstones that were deposited in fluvial channel and floodplain environments. It was ...

of southern

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

, Canada, which are similar to

chachalaca Chachalacas are galliform birds from the genus ''Ortalis''. These birds are found in wooded habitats in the far southern United States (Texas), Mexico, and Central and South America. They are social, can be very noisy and often remain fairly c ...

eggs, but in the absence of bone material, their relationships cannot be determined except that they are apparently

avian Avian may refer to: * Birds or Aves, winged animals *Avian (given name) (russian: Авиа́н, link=no), a male forename Aviation *Avro Avian, a series of light aircraft made by Avro in the 1920s and 1930s *Avian Limited, a hang glider manufactur ...

in origin. Modern genera of phasianids start appearing around the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but t ...

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

boundary, roughly 25–20 Mya. It is not well known whether the living genera of the other, older, galliform families originated around the same time or earlier, though at least in the New World quail, pre-Neogene forms seem to belong to genera that became entirely extinct later on. A number of Paleogene to mid-Neogene fossils are quite certainly Galliformes, but their exact relationships in the order cannot be determined: * †Galliformes gen. et sp. indet. (Oligocene) – formerly in ''Gallinuloides''; phasianid? * †'' Palaealectoris'' (Agate Fossil Beds Early Miocene of Sioux County, USA) – tetraonine?

List of major taxa

For a long time, the pheasants, partridges, and relatives were indiscriminately lumped in the Phasianidae, variously including or excluding turkeys, grouse, New World quail, and guineafowl, and divided into two subfamilies – the

Phasianinae 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 ...

(pheasant-like forms) and the Perdicinae (partridge-like forms). This crude arrangement was long considered to be in serious need of revision, but even with modern

DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. T ...

analyses and

cladistic Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived char ...

methods, the

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological s ...

of the Phasianidae has resisted complete resolution.Kimball ''et al.'' (1999, 2001), Crowe ''et al.'' (2006a,b) Palaeortyx

A tentative list of the higher-level galliform

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 ...

, listed in evolutionary sequence, is: * †'' Archaeophasianus'' Lambrecht 1933 (Oligocene? – Late Miocene) * †'' Argillipes'' Harrison & Walker 1977 * †'' Austinornis'' Clarke 2004 'Pedioecetes''_Baird_1858.html" ;"title="Pedioecetes.html" ;"title="'Pedioecetes">'Pedioecetes'' Baird 1858">Pedioecetes.html" ;"title="'Pedioecetes">'Pedioecetes'' Baird 1858(Austin Chalk Late Cretaceous of Fort McKinney, USA) * †''Chambiortyx'' Mourer-Chauviré et al. 2013 * †'' Coturnipes'' Harrison & Walker 1977 * †''Cyrtonyx tedfordi'' (Barstow Late Miocene of Barstow, USA) * †'' Linquornis'' Yeh 1980 (middle Miocene) * †'' Namaortyx'' Mourer-Chauviré, Pickford & 2011 * †'' Palaeorallus alienus'' Kuročkin 1968 nomen dubium * †'' Sobniogallus'' Tomek et al. 2014 * †'' Tristraguloolithus'' Zelenitsky, Hills & Curri 1996 otaxa- cracid?* †'' Procrax'' Tordoff & Macdonald 1957 (middle Eocene? – Early Oligocene) * †'' Paleophasianus'' Wetmore 1940 * †'' Taoperdix'' Milne-Edwards 1869 (Late Oligocene) * Family † Paraortygidae Mourer-Chauviré 1992 ** †'' Pirortyx'' Brodkorb 1964 ** †'' Scopelortyx'' Mourer-Chauviré, Pickford & Senut 2015 ** †'' Paraortyx '' Gaillard 1908 sensu Brodkorb 1964 ** †'' Xorazmortyx'' Zelenkov & Panteleyev 2019 * Family † Quercymegapodiidae Mourer-Chauviré 1992 ** †'' Taubacrex'' de Alvarenga 1988 ** †'' Ameripodius'' de Alvarenga 1995 ** †'' Quercymegapodius'' Mourer-Chauviré 1992 * Family Megapodiidae – mound-builders and scrubfowl, or megapodes ** †''

Mwalau ''Mwalau walterlinii'' is an extinct species of megapode from Vanuatu, and the only species in the genus ''Mwalau''. The holotype and only known specimen is from the Teouma archeological site on the island of Efate. It was built in similar p ...

'' Worthy et al. 2015 (Lini's megapode) ** †'' Ngawupodius'' & Ivison 1999 ** '' Brushturkey group'' *** '' Talegalla'' Lesson 1828 *** '' Leipoa'' Gould 1840 'Progura''_de_Vis_1889;_''Chosornis.html" ;"title="Progura.html" ;"title="'Progura">'Progura'' de Vis 1889; ''Chosornis">Progura.html" ;"title="'Progura">'Progura'' de Vis 1889; ''Chosornis'' de Vis 1889; ''Palaeopelargus'' de Vis 1892] (Malleefowl) *** ''Alectura'' Gray 1831 [''Catheturus'' Swainson 1837] (Australian Brushturkeys) *** ''Aepypodius'' Oustalet 1880 ** ''

Scrubfowl group The scrubfowl are the genus '' Megapodius '' of the mound-builders, stocky, medium-large chicken-like birds with small heads and large feet in the family Megapodiidae. They are found from south-east Asia to north Australia and islands in the we ...

'' *** ''

Macrocephalon The maleo (''Macrocephalon maleo'') is a large megapode and the only member of the monotypic genus ''Macrocephalon''. The maleo is endemic to Sulawesi and the nearby smaller island of Buton in Indonesia. It is found in the tropical lowland and ...

'' Müller 1846 'Megacephalon''_Gray_1846;_''Megacephalon.html" ;"title="Megacephalon.html" ;"title="'Megacephalon">'Megacephalon'' Gray 1846; ''Megacephalon">Megacephalon.html" ;"title="'Megacephalon">'Megacephalon'' Gray 1846; ''Megacephalon'' Gray 1844 nomen nudum; ''Galeocephala'' Mathews 1926] (Maleos) *** ''Eulipoa'' Ogilvie-Grant 1893 (Moluccan Megapodes) *** ''Megapodius'' Gaimard 1823 non (sic) Mathews 1913 [''Megathelia'' Mathews 1914; '' Amelous'' Gloger 1841] * Family

– chachalacas, guans and curassows ** †'' Archaealectrornis'' Crowe & Short 1992 (Oligocene) ** †'' Boreortalis'' Brodkorb 1954 ** †'' Palaeonossax'' Wetmore 1956 (Brule Late Oligocene of South Dakota, USA) ** Penelopinae Bonaparte 1851 (Guans) *** '' Chamaepetes'' Wagler 1832 (black & sickle-winged guan) *** '' Penelopina'' Reichenbach 1861 (Highland Guans) *** ''

Aburria The wattled guan (''Aburria aburri'') is a species of bird in the family Cracidae. It is a fairly large black cracid with blue-based, black-tipped beak and a long, red-and-yellow wattle. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. I ...

'' Reichenbach 1853 'Opetioptila''_Sundevall_1873;_''Pipile.html" ;"title="Opetioptila.html" ;"title="'Opetioptila">'Opetioptila'' Sundevall 1873; ''Pipile">Opetioptila.html" ;"title="'Opetioptila">'Opetioptila'' Sundevall 1873; ''Pipile'' Bonaparte 1856 non ''Pipilo'' Vieillot 1816; ''Cumana'' Coues 1900] *** ''Penelope (genus), Penelope'' Merrem 1786 [''Penelopsis'' Bonaparte 1856] ** Cracinae Rafinesque 1815 *** '' Ortalis'' Merrem 1786 'Ganix''_Rafinesque_1815.html" ;"title="Ganix.html" ;"title="' 'Ganix''_Rafinesque_1815">Ganix.html"_;"title="'Ganix">'Ganix''_Rafinesque_1815_(Chachalacas) ***_''Oreophasis.html" ;"title="Ganix">'Ganix'' Rafinesque 1815">Ganix.html" ;"title="'Ganix">'Ganix'' Rafinesque 1815 (Chachalacas) *** ''Oreophasis">Ganix">'Ganix'' Rafinesque 1815">Ganix.html" ;"title="'Ganix">'Ganix'' Rafinesque 1815 (Chachalacas) *** ''Oreophasis'' Gray 1844 (Horned Guans) *** Cracini Rafinesque 1815 (Curassows) **** ''Nothocrax'' Burmeister 1856 (Nocturnal Curassows) **** ''Pauxi'' Temminck 1813 [''Ourax'' Cuvier 1817; '' Lophocerus'' Swainson 1837 non Hemprich & Ehrenberg 1833; '' Urax'' Reichenbach 1850] **** '' Mitu (bird), Mitu'' Lesson 1831 (razor-billed curassows) **** ''

Crax ''Crax'' is a genus of curassows in the order Galliformes, a clade of large, heavy-bodied, ground-feeding birds. They are known from tropical South America with one species, the great curassow, ranging northwards through Central America as far a ...

'' Linnaeus 1758 * Suborder Phasiani ** Family † Gallinuloididae – tentatively placed here *** †''

Gallinuloides ''Gallinuloides'' is a prehistoric genus of primitive galliform bird. It lived about 48 million years ago in North America. The type specimen was found in a Green River Formation deposit in Wyoming.Ksepka, D.T. (2009) Broken gears in the avian m ...

'' Eastman 1900 'Palaeobonasa''_Shufeldt_1915.html" ;"title="Palaeobonasa.html" ;"title="' 'Palaeobonasa''_Shufeldt_1915">Palaeobonasa.html"_;"title="'Palaeobonasa">'Palaeobonasa''_Shufeldt_1915***_†''Paraortygoides.html" ;"title="Palaeobonasa">'Palaeobonasa'' Shufeldt 1915">Palaeobonasa.html" ;"title="'Palaeobonasa">'Palaeobonasa'' Shufeldt 1915*** †''Paraortygoides">Palaeobonasa">'Palaeobonasa'' Shufeldt 1915">Palaeobonasa.html" ;"title="'Palaeobonasa">'Palaeobonasa'' Shufeldt 1915*** †''Paraortygoides'' Mayr 2000 ** Family

– guineafowl *** ''Guttera'' Wagler 1832 *** ''Numida'' Linnaeus 1764 [''Querelea'' Reichenbach 1852] (Helmeted Guineafowl) *** ''Acryllium'' Gray 1840 (Vulturine Guineafowl) *** ''

Agelastes ''Agelastes'' is a small genus of birds in the guineafowl family. It comprises two species: * White-breasted guineafowl, ''A. meleagrides'' * Black guineafowl The black guineafowl (''Agelastes niger'') is a member of the guineafowl bird family ...

'' Bonaparte 1850 ** Family Odontophoridae – New World quail *** †'' Miortyx'' Miller 1944 *** †'' Nanortyx'' Weigel 1963 *** †'' Neortyx'' Holman 1961 ***

Ptilopachinae ''Ptilopachus'' is an African genus of birds in the New World quail family. Taxonomy The genus ''Ptilopachus '' was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist William John Swainson to accommodate a single species, the stone partridge, which is ...

Bowie, Coehn & Crowe 2013 **** '' Ptilopachus'' Swainson 1837 *** Odontophorinae Gould 1844 **** ''

Rhynchortyx The tawny-faced quail (''Rhynchortyx cinctus'') is a species of bird in the family Odontophoridae, the New World quail. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Taxonomy and systematics The tawny-faced ...

'' Ogilvie-Grant 1893 (Tawny-faced Quail) **** '' Oreortyx '' Baird 1858 'Orortyx''_Coues_1882.html" ;"title="Orortyx.html" ;"title="'Orortyx">'Orortyx'' Coues 1882">Orortyx.html" ;"title="'Orortyx">'Orortyx'' Coues 1882(Mountain Quail) **** ''Dendrortyx'' Gould 1844 (Wood Partridges) **** ''

Philortyx The banded quail (''Philortyx fasciatus'') is a species of bird in the family Odontophoridae. It is found only in Mexico where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tr ...

'' Gould 1846 non Des Murs 1854 (Banded Quail) **** ''Colinus'' Goldfuss 1820 [''Eupsychortyx'' Gould 1844; '' Gnathodon'' 1842; ''

Ortygia Ortygia (; it, Ortigia; grc-gre, Ὀρτυγία) is a small island which is the historical centre of the city of Syracuse, Sicily. The island, also known as the ''Città Vecchia'' (Old City), contains many historical landmarks. The name origi ...

'' Boie 1826; ''

'' Des Murs 1854 non Gould 1846] (Bobwhites) **** '' Callipepla'' Wagler 1832 'Lophortyx''_Bonaparte_1838.html" ;"title="Lophortyx.html" ;"title="' 'Lophortyx''_Bonaparte_1838">Lophortyx.html"_;"title="'Lophortyx">'Lophortyx''_Bonaparte_1838() ****_''Cyrtonyx.html" ;"title="Lophortyx">'Lophortyx'' Bonaparte 1838">Lophortyx.html" ;"title="'Lophortyx">'Lophortyx'' Bonaparte 1838() **** ''Cyrtonyx">Lophortyx">'Lophortyx'' Bonaparte 1838">Lophortyx.html" ;"title="'Lophortyx">'Lophortyx'' Bonaparte 1838() **** ''Cyrtonyx'' Gould 1844 () **** ''Dactylortyx'' Ogilvie-Grant 1893 (Singing Quail) **** ''Odontophorus'' Vieillot 1816 [''Dentophorus'' Boie 1828] (Wood Quail) ** Family

–

s and relatives *** †'' Alectoris” pliocaena'' Tugarinov 1940b *** †'' Bantamyx'' Kuročkin 1982 *** †'' Diangallus'' Hou 1985 *** †'' “Gallus” beremendensis'' Jánossy 1976b *** †'' “Gallus” europaeus'' Harrison 1978 *** †'' Lophogallus'' Zelenkov & Kuročkin 2010 *** †'' Megalocoturnix'' Sánchez Marco 2009 *** †'' Miophasianus'' Brodkorb 1952 Miophasianus''_Lambrecht_1933_nomen_nudum_;_''Miogallus.html" ;"title="' Miophasianus'' Lambrecht 1933 nomen nudum ; ''Miogallus">' Miophasianus'' Lambrecht 1933 nomen nudum ; ''Miogallus'' Lambrecht 1933 ] *** †''Palaeocryptonyx'' Depéret 1892 [''Chauvireria'' Boev 1997; ''Pliogallus'' Tugarinov 1940b non Gaillard 1939; ''Lambrechtia'' Janossy 1974 ] *** †'' Palaeortyx'' Milne-Edwards 1869 'Palaeoperdix''_Milne-Edwards_1869.html" ;"title="Palaeoperdix.html" ;"title="' 'Palaeoperdix''_Milne-Edwards_1869">Palaeoperdix.html"_;"title="'Palaeoperdix">'Palaeoperdix''_Milne-Edwards_1869***_†''Plioperdix.html" ;"title="Palaeoperdix">'Palaeoperdix'' Milne-Edwards 1869">Palaeoperdix.html" ;"title="'Palaeoperdix">'Palaeoperdix'' Milne-Edwards 1869*** †''Plioperdix">Palaeoperdix">'Palaeoperdix'' Milne-Edwards 1869">Palaeoperdix.html" ;"title="'Palaeoperdix">'Palaeoperdix'' Milne-Edwards 1869*** †''Plioperdix'' Kretzoi 1955 [''Pliogallus'' Tugarinov 1940 nec Gaillard 1939] *** †''Rustaviornis'' Burchak-Abramovich & Meladze 1972 *** †''Schaubortyx'' Brodkorb 1964 *** †''Shandongornis'' Yeh 1997 *** †'' Shanxiornis'' Wang et al. 2006 *** †'' Tologuica'' Zelenkov & Kuročkin 2009 *** Subfamily Rollulinae Bonaparte, 1850 *** Subfamily

****Tribe Lerwini von Boetticher, 1939 – snow partridge ****Tribe Ithaginini Wolters 197 – blood pheasant ****Tribe Lophophorini Gray, 1841 – monals, monal-partridges, and tragopans ****Tribe Pucrasiini Wolters 1976 – koklass pheasant ****Tribe

Meleagridini Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochond ...

– turkey ****Tribe Tetraonini Leach 1820 – grouse ****Tribe Rhizotherini – long-billed partridges ****Tribe

Phasianini Phasianini is a tribe of birds in the subfamily Phasianinae. It contains the true pheasants. Species in this tribe are found throughout Europe and Asia. This grouping was supported by a 2021 phylogenetic analysis of Galliformes, and accepted by t ...

Horsfield 1821 – true pheasants and partridges **** ***Subfamily Pavoninae ****Tribe

Pavonini Pavonini is a tribe of bird in the subfamily Phasianinae. Members of this family are primarily found in tropical Asia, along with one species in the Congo Rainforest in Africa. It contains two of the most charismatic members of the Phasianidae, ...

Rafinesque 1815 – peafowl, arguses, and ''Tropicoperdix'' partridges ****Tribe Polyprectronini Blyth 1852 – peacock-pheasants, Asian spurfowl, and crimson-headed partridge ****Tribe

Gallini Gallini may refer to: * Gallini (surname), an Italian surname * Gallini (bird), a tribe of gamebird including francolins, bamboo partridges, and junglefowl (including the chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domest ...

Brehm 1831 – junglefowl, bamboo partridges, and true francolins ****Tribe

Coturnicini Coturnicini is a tribe of birds in the subfamily Phasianinae. It contains the Old World quail, snowcocks, and African spurfowl, among others. Members of this tribe have a wide range throughout Africa, Eurasia, and Australasia. This tribe conta ...

Reichenbach, 1848 - Old World quail, snowcocks, and allies The relationships of many pheasants and partridges were formerly very badly resolved and much confounded by

adaptive radiation In evolutionary biology, adaptive radiation is a process in which organisms diversify rapidly from an ancestral species into a multitude of new forms, particularly when a change in the environment makes new resources available, alters biotic in ...

(in the former) and

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

(in the latter). Thus, the bulk of the Phasianidae was alternatively be treated as a single subfamily Phasianinae. The grouse, turkeys, true pheasants, etc., would then become

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

of this subfamily, similar to how the Coturnicinae are commonly split into a quail and a spurfowl tribe. In 2021, Kimball ''et al''. found the family to comprise three distinct subfamilies, with two containing multiple genera; these results were followed by the International Ornithological Congress. The partridge of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

is not closely related to other partridge-like Galliformes, as already indicated by its

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

coloration and possession of more than 14

rectrices Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tai ...

, traits it shares with the other advanced phasianids. However, among these its relationships are obscure; it is unclear whether it is closer to the turkeys or to certain short-tailed pheasants like ''

Ithaginis The blood pheasant (''Ithaginis cruentus''), also known as blood partridge, is the only species in genus ''Ithaginis'' of the pheasant family. It is a relatively small, short-tailed pheasant that is widespread and is fairly common in eastern Him ...

'', ''

Lophophorus A monal is a bird of genus ''Lophophorus'' of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. Description The males all have colorful, iridescent plumage. Their physique is rather plump. Their diet consists of plants such as roots and bulbs and insects. ...

'', ''

Pucrasia The koklass pheasant (''Pucrasia macrolopha'') is a species of gamebird, being closely related to progenitive grouse that lived during the Miocene. They are distantly related to pheasants and are most closely related to grouse and turkeys. Ko ...

'', and ''

Tragopan ''Tragopan'' is a bird genus in the pheasant family Phasianidae. Member of the genus are commonly called "horned pheasants" because males have two brightly colored, fleshy horns on their head that can be erected during courtship displays. The hab ...

''. In 2021, Kimball ''et al''. found it to belong to the subfamily

, alongside the true pheasants.

Phylogeny

Living Galliformes based on the work by John Boyd.John Boyd's websit

Description

As their name suggests they are chicken-like in appearance, with rounded bodies and blunt wings, and range in size from small at 15 cm (6 inches) to large at 120 cm (4 feet). They are mainly terrestrial birds and their wings are short and rounded for short-distance flight. Galliforms are anisodactyly, anisodactyl like

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

s, but some of the adult males grow spurs that point backwards. Gallinaceous birds are arboreal or terrestrial animals; many prefer not to fly, but instead walk and run for locomotion. They live 5–8 years in the wild and up to 30 years in captivity. They can be found worldwide and in a variety of habitats, including forests, deserts, and grasslands. They use visual displays and vocalizations for communication, courtship, fighting, territoriality, and brooding. They have diverse mating strategies: some are monogamous, while others are

polygamous Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is marri ...

or polygynandrous. Male courtship behavior includes elaborate visual displays of plumage. They breed seasonally in accordance with the climate and lay three to 16 eggs per year in nests built on the ground or in trees. Gallinaceous birds feed on a variety of plant and animal material, which may include fruits, seeds, leaves, shoots, flowers, tubers, roots, insects, snails, worms, lizards, snakes, small rodents, and eggs. These birds vary in size from the diminutive king quail (''Coturnix chinensis'') (5 in) long and weighing 28–40 g (1–1.4 oz) to the largest extant galliform species, the

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey, which was originally d ...

(''Meleagris gallopavo''), which may weigh as much as 14 kg (30.5 lb) and may exceed 120 cm (47 in). The galliform bird species with the largest wingspan and largest overall length (including a train of over 6 feet) is most likely the

green peafowl The green peafowl or Indonesian peafowl (''Pavo muticus'') is a peafowl species native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2009 because the global population has been declining ...

(''Pavo muticus''). Most galliform

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

are plump-bodied with thick necks and moderately long legs, with rounded and rather short wings.

Grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondria ...

francolin Francolins are birds in the tribe Gallini that traditionally have been placed in the genus ''Francolinus'', but now commonly are divided into multiple genera. As previously defined, they were paraphyletic as the genus '' Pternistis'', which wa ...

s, and

s are typical in their outwardly corpulent silhouettes. Adult males of many galliform birds have one to several sharp horny spurs on the back of each leg, which they use for fighting. In several lineages, pronounced sexual dimorphism occurs, and among each galliform

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English ter ...

, the more apomorphic ("advanced") lineages tend to be more sexually dimorphic.

Flightlessness

While most galliformes are rather reluctant flyers, truly flightless forms are unknown among the extant members of the order. Though they are often mischaracterised as weak-flying, Galliformes are actually highly specialised for their particular flight style, bearing extremely powerful flight muscles, and some species are even migratory. Adult snowcocks are, however, flightless, requiring gravity to launch, although juveniles can still fly relatively well. Nonetheless, a few birds outside the Galliforme crown-group did produce flightlessness. The genus '' Sylviornis'', a huge

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The us ...

ally

species of

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

, was flightless, but as opposed to most other flightless birds like

ratite A ratite () is any of a diverse group of flightless, large, long-necked, and long-legged birds of the infraclass Palaeognathae. Kiwi, the exception, are much smaller and shorter-legged and are the only nocturnal extant ratites. The systematics ...

s or island rails which become flightless due to

arrested development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

of their flight apparatus and subsequently evolve to larger size, ''Sylviornis'' seems to have become flightless simply due to its bulk, with the wing reduction following a consequence, not the reason for its flightlessness. The gigantic Australian mihirungs, which may be closer to Galliformes than to

as traditionally expected, achieved flightlessness more traditionally, strongly reducing their wings and keel. They were massive herbivorous birds, among the largest avian dinosaurs of all time. By contrast, the stem-galliform '' Scopelortyx'' appears to have been more aerial than modern fowl, with a flight style more suited for gliding and soaring.

Behaviour and ecology

Most of the galliform birds are more or less resident, but some of the smaller

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

species (such as quail) do migrate over considerable distances.

Altitudinal migration Altitudinal migration is a short-distance animal migration from lower altitudes to higher altitudes and back. Altitudinal migrants change their elevation with the seasons making this form of animal migration seasonal. Altitudinal migration can be m ...

is evidently quite common amongst

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial ...

species, and a few species of subtropical and

regions must reach their watering and/or foraging areas through sustained flight. Species known to make extensive flights include the ptarmigans, sage-grouse (''Centrocercus''), crested partridge, green peafowl, crested argus,

mountain peacock-pheasant The mountain peacock-pheasant (''Polyplectron inopinatum''), also known as Rothschild's peacock-pheasant or mirror pheasant, is a medium-sized, up to 65 cm long, blackish brown pheasant with small ocelli and long graduated tail feathers. Bo ...

(''Polyplectron inopinatum''),

koklass pheasant The koklass pheasant (''Pucrasia macrolopha'') is a species of gamebird, being closely related to progenitive grouse that lived during the Miocene. They are distantly related to pheasants and are most closely related to grouse and turkeys. Ko ...

(''Pucrasia macrolopha''), Reeves's pheasant, and (''Syrmaticus reevesii''). Other species — most of the New World quail (also known as the ‘toothed quail’), the enigmatic

stone partridge The stone partridge (''Ptilopachus petrosus'') is a bird of the New World quail family. This largely brown bird, which commonly holds its tail raised, is found in scrubland and lightly wooded habitats, often near rocks, from Kenya and Ethiopia to ...

(''Ptilopachus petrosus'') of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

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 ...

, and eared pheasants (''

Crossoptilon Eared pheasants are pheasants from the genus ''Crossoptilon'' in the family Phasianidae. Species Established by Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1838, the genus contains four species: The name ''Crossoptilon'' is a combination of the Greek words ''k ...

'') — are all notable for their daily excursions on foot which may take them many miles in a given day. Some Galliformes are adapted to grassland habitat, and these genera are remarkable for their long, thin necks, long legs, and large, wide wings. Fairly unrelated

like the crested fireback (''Lophura ignita''),

vulturine guineafowl The vulturine guineafowl (''Acryllium vulturinum'') is the largest extant species of guineafowl. Systematically, it is only distantly related to other guineafowl genera. Its closest living relative, the white breasted guineafowl, ''Agelastes ...

(''Acryllium vulturinum''), and

(''Leipoa ocellata'') are outwardly similar in their body types (see also

). Most species that show only limited sexual dimorphism are notable for the great amount of locomotion required to find food throughout the majority of the year. Those species that are highly sedentary but with marked ecological transformations over seasons exhibit marked distinct differences between the sexes in size and/or appearance. Eared-pheasants, guineafowl, toothed quail, and the

snow partridge The snow partridge (''Lerwa lerwa'') is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae found widely distributed across the high-altitude Himalayan regions of India, Pakistan, Nepal and China. It is the only species within its genus, and is thoug ...

(''Lerwa lerwa'') are examples of limited sexual differences and requirements for traveling over wide terrain to forage.

Winter ecology

Gallinaceous birds are well adapted to regions with cold winters. Their larger size, increased plumage, and lower activity levels help them to withstand the cold and conserve energy. Under such conditions, they are able to change their feeding strategy to that of a ruminant. This allows them to feed on and extract energy and nutrients from coarse, fibrous plant material, such as buds, twigs, and

conifer Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All ext ...

needles. This provides a virtually unlimited source of accessible food and requires little energy to harvest.

Food and feeding

Herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpar ...

to slightly

omnivorous 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 nut ...

galliforms, forming the majority of the group, are typically stoutly built and have short, thick bills primarily adapted for foraging on the ground for rootlets or the consumption of other plant material such as heather shoots. The young birds will also take insects.

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 ref ...

junglefowl Junglefowl are the only four living species of bird from the genus ''Gallus'' in the bird order Galliformes, and occur in parts of South and Southeast Asia. They diverged from their common ancestor about 4–6 million years ago. Although origin ...

and most of the

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

pheasant genera have very different nutritional requirements from typical

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sib ...

genera. The

Himalayan monal The Himalayan monal (''Lophophorus impejanus''), also called Impeyan monal and Impeyan pheasant, is a pheasant native to Himalayan forests and shrublands at elevations of . It is part of the family Phasianidae and is listed as Least Concern on th ...

(''Lophophorus impejanus'') has been observed digging in the rotting wood of deadfall in a similar manner to

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions ...

s to extract

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chorda ...

s, even bracing itself with aid of its squared tail. The

cheer pheasant The cheer pheasant (''Catreus wallichii''), also known as Wallich's pheasant or chir pheasant, is a vulnerable species of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. It is the only member in the genus ''Catreus''. The scientific name commemorates Danish ...

(''Catreus wallichi''),

crested argus Crested arguses are large and spectacular peafowl-like birds in the genus ''Rheinardia'' of the pheasant family. Taxonomy Although traditionally treated as a single species with two subspecies, it has long been suspected that a species pair is i ...

(''Rheinardia ocellata''), the

crested partridge The crested partridge (''Rollulus rouloul'') also known as the crested wood partridge, roul-roul, red-crowned wood partridge, green wood quail or green wood partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gal ...

(''Rollulus roulroul'') and the crested guineafowl (''Guttera pucherani'') are similar ecologically to the Himalayan monal in that they too forage in rotting wood for

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes ( eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blat ...

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

and

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is est ...

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapoda, decapods, ostracoda, seed shrimp, branchiopoda, branchiopods, argulidae, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopoda, isopods, barnacles, copepods, ...

s and young

rodents Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

. Typical peafowl (''Pavo''), most of the

peacock-pheasant The peacock-pheasants are a bird genus, ''Polyplectron'', of the family Phasianidae, consisting of eight species. They are colored inconspicuously, relying on heavily on crypsis to avoid detection. When threatened, peacock-pheasants will alter t ...

s (''Polyplectron''), the

Bulwer's pheasant Bulwer's pheasant (''Lophura bulweri''), also known as Bulwer's wattled pheasant, the wattled pheasant or the white-tailed wattled pheasant, is a Southeast Asian bird in the family Phasianidae endemic to the forests of Borneo. It is currently li ...

(''Lophura bulweri''), the ruffed pheasants ('' Chrysolophus'') and the hill partridges (''

Arborophila ''Arborophila'' is a bird genus in the family Phasianidae. The genus has the second most members within the Galliformes after ''Pternistis'', although ''Arborophila'' species vary very little in bodily proportions with different species varying ...

'') have narrow, relatively delicate bills, poorly suited for digging. These galliform genera prefer instead to capture live invertebrates in

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent ...

, in sand, or shallow pools or along stream banks. These genera are also outwardly similar in that they each have exceptionally long, delicate legs and toes and the tendency to frequent seasonally wet habitats to forage, especially during chick-rearing. The blue peafowl (''Pavo cristatus'') is famed in its native

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

for its appetite for snakes – even poisonous cobras – which it dispatches with its strong feet and sharp bill. The Lady Amherst's pheasant (''Chrysolophus amherstiae''), green peafowl (''Pavo muticus''), Bulwer's pheasant and the crestless fireback (''Lophura erythrophthalma'') are notable for their aptitude to forage for crustaceans such as crayfish and other aquatic small animals in shallow streams and amongst rushes in much the same manner as some members of the rail family (

Rallidae The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized, ground-living birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules. Many species are associated with wetlands, alth ...

). Similarly, although

wild turkeys The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey, which was originally de ...

(''Meleagris gallopavo'') have a diet primarily of vegetation, they will eat insects, mice, lizards, and amphibians, wading in water to hunt for the latter. Domestic hens (''Gallus domesticus'') share this opportunistic behaviour and will eat insects, mice, worms, and amphibians. Capercaillie Lomvi 2004

The tragopans (''

''),

mikado pheasant The Mikado pheasant (''Syrmaticus mikado'') is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. Sometimes considered an unofficial ''national bird'' of Taiwan (along with the Swinhoe's pheasant and Taiw ...

(''Syrmaticus mikado''), and several species of grouse and ptarmigan are exceptional in their largely vegetarian and

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose nu ...

foraging habitats; grouse are especially notable for being able to feed on plants rich in

terpene Terpenes () are a class of natural products consisting of compounds with the formula (C5H8)n for n > 1. Comprising more than 30,000 compounds, these unsaturated hydrocarbons are produced predominantly by plants, particularly conifers. Terpenes ...

s and

quinones The quinones are a class of organic compounds that are formally "derived from aromatic compounds uch as benzene or naphthalene">benzene.html" ;"title="uch as benzene">uch as benzene or naphthalene] by conversion of an even number of –CH= grou ...

– such as

sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus '' Artemisia''. The best known sagebrush is the shrub '' Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west. Following is an al ...

s –, which are often avoided by other herbivores. Many species of moderate altitudes—for example the long-tailed pheasants of the genus ''

Syrmaticus __NOTOC__ The genus ''Syrmaticus'' contains the five species of long-tailed pheasants. The males have short spurs and usually red facial wattles, but otherwise differ wildly in appearance. The hens (females) and chicks of all the species have a ...

''—also find a great deal of their daily nutritional requirements in the tree canopies, especially during the snowy and rainy periods when foraging on the ground is dangerous and less than fruitful for a variety of reasons. Although members of the genus ''Syrmaticus'' are capable of subsisting almost entirely on vegetarian materials for months at a time, this is not true for many of the subtropical genera. For example, the

great argus The great argus (''Argusianus argus'') is a species of pheasant from Southeast Asia. It is not to be confused with the two species of closely related crested argus, genus ''Rheinardia''. Taxonomy Carl Linnaeus gave the great argus its spe ...

(''Argusianus argus'') and crested argus may do most of their foraging during rainy months in the canopy of the jungle, as well. There they are known to forage on

slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a ...

snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class ...

s, ants, and

amphibian Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbo ...

s to the exclusion of plant material. How they forage in the forest canopy during the rainy months is unknown.

Reproduction

Most galliforms are very prolific, with clutches regularly exceeding 10 eggs in many species. In contrast to most birds which are – at least for a particular breeding season –

monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a form of dyadic relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time ( serial monogamy) — as compared to the various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., pol ...

, galliforms are often

polygynous Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...

. Such species can be recognized by their pronounced sexual dimorphism. Galliform young are very

precocious Precocious refers to earlier-than-normal development, as in a "precocious child". The term may also refer to: Films *''A Precocious Girl'' (German title: ''Csibi, der Fratz aka Früchtchen''), a 1934 Austrian comedy film *'' Precocious Youth'' (G ...

and roam with their mothers – or both parents in monogamous species – mere hours after hatching. The most extreme case are the Megapodiidae, where the adults do not brood, but leave incubation to mounds of rotting vegetation,

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plat ...

ash, or hot sand. The young must dig out of the nest mounds after hatching, but they emerge from the eggs fully feathered, and upon leaving the mound, they are able to fly considerable distances.

Common species

Grouse and ptarmigans Family Tetraonidae Grouse, ptarmigans, and prairie chickens are all chicken-like birds with short, curved, strong bills, part of the family Tetraonidae. This group includes 25 species residing mostly in

. They are mainly ground-dwellers and have short, rounded wings for brief flights. They are well adapted to winter by growing feather “snowshoes” on their feet and roosting beneath the snow. They range in size from the white-tailed ptarmigan to the sage grouse. Their plumage is dense and soft and is most commonly found in shades of red, brown, and gray to camouflage to the ground. They are polygamous and male courtship behavior includes strutting and dancing and aggressive fighting for possession of females. The typical

clutch size __NOTOC__ A clutch of egg (biology), eggs is the group of eggs produced by birds, amphibians, or reptiles, often at a single time, particularly those laid in a nest. In birds, destruction of a clutch by predators (or removal by humans, for exam ...

is between seven and 12 eggs. Turkeys Family Meleagrididae Turkeys are large, long-legged birds that can grow up to in height and weigh up to in the wild. They have a long, broad, rounded tail with 14-19 blunt feathers. They have a naked, wrinkled head and feathered body. The North American wild turkey – ''Meleagris gallopavo'' – has five distinct subspecies (Eastern, Rio Grande, Florida sceola Merriam's, and Gould's). Hybrids also exist where the ranges of these subspecies overlap. All are native only to North America, though transplanted populations exist elsewhere. Their plumage differs slightly by subspecies, but is generally dark to black for males, with buff to cream highlights, and generally drab brown for females. The feathers are quite iridescent and can take on distinct reddish/copper hues in sunlight. Their feathers are well defined with broad, square ends, giving the bird the appearance of being covered in scales. Males have a “beard” of coarse black bristles hanging from the center of their upper breasts and tend to have more vibrantly colored plumage than do females. They breed in the spring and their typical clutch size is between 10 and 12 eggs. The ocellated turkey (''Meleagris ocellata''), a different species of turkey, currently exists only in a portion of the

Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate mun ...

peninsula. After the 19th and early 20th centuries, wild turkey populations dropped significantly because of hunting and habitat loss. However, populations now flourish again due to hunting management and transplanting. The ocellated turkey, not commonly hunted, is currently threatened due to ongoing habitat loss in the Yucutan. Pheasants, quail, and partridges Family Phasianidae The family is divided into four groups: 30 species of new world quail, residing between

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to t ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, 11 species of Old World quail in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, and

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 are ...

, 94 species of partridges, and 48 species of pheasants. This family includes a wide range of bird sizes from a quail to pheasants up to almost . Pheasants and quail have heavy, round bodies and rounded wings. Though they have short legs, they are very fast runners when escaping predators. Chachalacas Family Cracidae

Chachalacas Chachalacas are galliform birds from the genus ''Ortalis''. These birds are found in wooded habitats in the far southern United States (Texas), Mexico, and Central and South America. They are social, can be very noisy and often remain fairly c ...

are found in the chaparral ecosystems from southern

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

through

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

and

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. They are mainly arboreal and make their nests in trees above the ground. They are large, long-legged birds that can grow up to long. They have long tails and are chicken-like in appearance. Their frail-looking yet sturdy nests are made of sticks and leaves. Their clutch size is three or four eggs. The males make a unique, loud,

mating call A mating call is the auditory signal used by animals to attract mates. It can occur in males or females, but literature is abundantly favored toward researching mating calls in females. In addition, mating calls are often the subject of mate choic ...

that give them their name. Chachalacas feed mainly on berries, but also eat insects. They are a popular game bird, as their flesh is good to eat. They are also commonly domesticated as pets.