Germain's Peacock-Pheasant
Polyplectron germaini
Small compact brown pheasant with bright red facial skin and iridescent sapphire spots all over the body, with longer green spots on the tail. Inhabits forests with dense cover from the lowlands up into the foothills and lower montane areas. Generally shy and reclusive and very difficult to see well.
Identification
The bird is a medium-sized, approximately 60 centimetres (24 in) long, brownish dark pheasant with finely spotted buff, short crest, bare red facial skin, brown iris and purplish-blue ocelli on upperbody plumage and half of its tail of twenty feathers. Both sexes are similar. The female has eighteen tail feathers and is smaller than male.
Taxonomy
The phylogeny of this species is somewhat enigmatic. mtDNA cytochrome b and D-loop as well as the nuclear ovomucoid intron G data confirms that it belongs to a clade together with the grey peacock-pheasant, but also the "brown" southernly species bronze-tailed peacock-pheasant and mountain peacock-pheasant. Biogeography suggests that it may indeed be the most ancient form in its clade, speciating parapatrically or peripatrically in Cochinchina (Kimball et al. 2001). This probably took place in the Late Pliocene, roughly 4-3 mya.
- Scientific name
- Polyplectron germaini
- Authority
- Elliot, DG, 1866
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Phasianidae
- Genus
- Polyplectron
Range and habitat
The Germain's peacock-pheasant is endemic to southern Indochina. It is found in the seasonal tropical forests of mid-southern Vietnam and far eastern Cambodia; it can be found readily in Cat Tien National Park. The female usually lays two creamy-white eggs.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
Due to ongoing habitat loss and limited range, the Germain's peacock-pheasant is evaluated as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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