Kalij Pheasant
Lophura leucomelanos
A distinctive pheasant with bare red facial skin, a backward-pointing crest, and a vertically compressed tail. Males are iridescent black and silver. Females are grayish-brown. Coloration varies considerably throughout its range, with northeastern birds averaging the darkest. Occurs in forested areas, usually in hilly or mountainous regions. Overlaps with Silver Pheasant in the north of its range, with which it produces confusing intergrades. Native to South and Southeast Asia and introduced to the Hawaiian Islands of Hawaii and western Oahu. Males give a soft crow, other calls include low grunts and high-pitched squeals.
Identification
Males have a total length of 63 to 74 cm (25 to 29 in) and females 50 to 60 cm (20 to 24 in). 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.<p>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.
Taxonomy
The kalij pheasant is closely related to the silver pheasant, and the two are known to hybridize. The placement of the taxa 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. They have greyish legs as in the kalij pheasant, but their plumage 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, a major zoogeographic 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). Based on mtDNA, it was recently confirmed that L. l. lineata and L. l. crawfurdi should be regarded as subspecies of the kalij pheasant.<p>The nine recognized subspecies of the kalij pheasant are, in taxonomic order:
- Scientific name
- Lophura leucomelanos
- Authority
- (Latham, 1790)
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Phasianidae
- Genus
- Lophura
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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