How to distinguish??

[Southshore]

Hello everyone! Hope you and your flock are doing great!

I am new to the green peafowl and have learned that there are three subspecies; Pavo Muticus Muticus, Pavo Muticus Imperator and the Pavo Muticus Specifier. I haven't been able to fi d on the internet any guide with pictures on how these birds differ from each other.

I was hoping someone here could help me with that. Kindly share pictures which clearly demonstrate the difference between the three. I am really counting on you otherwise I have no where else to ask! Hope to hear from you soon. Thank you!

 

[Midnightman14]

Frederich esser is the world authority on greens here is a photo he put together of the 3 sub species.

 

[Poultry man123]

I will be on the look out for a website for you but until then I will tag someone who could know. @casportpony

 

[KsKingBee]

The largest and most knowledgeable person in the US for Green Peafowl breeder is Bobs Green Peafowl in Salado Texas. Gerald Barker used to be on here but when they changed this site a few years ago it became too complicated for him to use on his phone so you should probably go to his website directly.

 

[KsKingBee]

Frederich esser is the world authority on greens here is a photo he put together of the 3 sub species.

He is quite the character, thanks for the photo. I wonder why his photo of the Muticus is lacking the median shield? Some call it the medallion.

 

[Midnightman14]

He is quite the character, thanks for the photo. I wonder why his photo of the Muticus is lacking the median shield? Some call it the medallion.

From what he told me this is a what is considered a true muticus (Javan muticus) and that increasingly the birds we call muticus (Malaysian collected) are being considered to be a island race of imperators rather than true javanese greens. Given that all of what we call muticus birds here came from malaysia they might have different markings than the javanese in this photo.

 

[Midnightman14]

Thank you sooo much! Finally some perspective! Can you please tell me in descending order the size of the subspecies? I am guessing (largest to smallest):

Specifier
Imperator
Muticus

Or is it:

Imperator
Specifier
Muticus

Muticus does seem to be the smallest. So how are they relative to each other in size?

Imperators are by far the largest. One of my import line imperator roosters is at least 1/3 bigger than any of my muticus males. Specifers are the smallest.

 

[KsKingBee]

The Greens here in the US that have been imported over the years are likely a mix of the three subspecies. Unless you personally bring them in from Fredrich you can't really trust that any are of one subspecies. There are two terms used in our Greens, Imported and American and neither can be claimed to be of one certain subspecies. Imported is used for being of known bloodlines and 'pure' even if a mix and American are known as being true Greens but of unknown decent. Another problem is that some of the very high percentage hybrids can not be distinguished from Greens. Those hybrids are fairly common and many people think they have true Greens when they may not.

It takes a very special person to keep and raise Greens, most people that buy them are apt to lose them. They need very large pens and are likely to kill their mates. Even the hens are known to kill each other. They are quite wild and bounce off the pen walls endangering themselves with broken necks, legs, and wings. They are big scary birds and difficult to catch and maintain and are a danger to the person in their pen. They reproduce in very low numbers compared to other peafowl which makes them costly to maintain.

 

[Midnightman14]

OH wow couldn't imagine there would be a such a huge difference in size between them! So is it true that the pavo muticus muticus is the most brightly colored of the 3 subspecies?

They're all brightly colored in their own ways just a matter of taste.

 

[Southshore]

Thanks @Poultry man123!