The Dragon Bird { Green Peafowls

[Resolution]

Quote:
Just two subspecies- though someone might tease out regional races within India.
Pavo cristatus cristatus
and
Pavo cristatus singhalensis

 

[FrankYLegend]

Quote:
Hmm, I think there's two but as Resolution said about the teasing of more forms; there's the Nepalese and Rajasthani forms. IB Peafowl in Southern India may be introduced because they are similar to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan Singhalensis:

The thing I find astonishing about this bird is its bold white facial skin and the crest which looks a bit flaky and is sapphire in hue. As Resolution posted before the female is very interesting and looks almost like it has some Green Peafowl blood.

The picture that Dani posted was from Rajasthan, India where another distinctive form is found:

A cristatus from east India (Ahmedabad):

There is another form found in Nepal. When I see these pictures I always think they're kinda chubby.

(credits to flyingmonkeypoop for the last two photos)

I'm trying to look for different pictures of the wing patterns of the different forms, I wonder if Clinton can sketch the differences.

Resolution - Indeed it's a very strange bird. Pictures aren't always accurate, as with that male "spicifer" in Jurong bird park. Looking back at my original photos it does have a lot of traits of those forms you mentioned. The posturing in that "standing" photograph reminded me a lot of annamensis, while the photograph in the cage reminds me of the Tonkin imperator... The bird's eyes are also rather strange; the irises aren't very pale but rather transluscent looking; in my standing photograph it almost looks as if it's the nictitating membrane. The picture on the display in the aviary looked a bit like Wolfgang stock muticus or nominate imperator. Then there's that purple subauricle you mentioned before which is like Javanensis... Only with DNA from this bird will we know for sure.

Here's a very strange video clip which I think adds a lot to go against Darwin's theory of sexual selection:

The Javanese Green Peafowl displays even though it appears later on there's no female at 1:10. Instead, there is a Javan Rusa buck that is nearby. Suddenly it gets scared, I think it's because the bird's display.

 

[Resolution]

From what I've seen of some very preliminary micro satellite data, there are only two entirely distinctive forms of cristatus. There is a subspecies endemic to Sri Lanka and the nominate form of the Indian subcontinent. There is some distinction in a few birds collected in Simla and Nepal but not enough to distinguish them as subspecies. The phenotypey of Indian peafowl does have some subtle differences but nothing that can really be linked to genotype- though many birds from Simla and Nepal are darker than the average cristatus. . Individual variation is often at play but as we've appreciated amongst Red Junglefowl, which resemble one another so closely as to prevent easy identification amongst subspecies and geographic races, the Indian peafowl is genetically diverse. Again, like the Red Junglefowl, only the isolated island form (bankiva in Red JF and singhalensis in Blue PF) are readily distinguishable and while they resembvle mainland forms closely, there is surprising distance between mainland and island forms. This speaks to genetic isolation.

note- Sri Lanka female lacks prominent white tips of tail feathers exhibited by nominate form. Sri Lanka female has a heavier iridescent gloss to the retrices.

Sri Lanka and nominate cristatus peahens. The darker of the two is singhalensis.

 

[Resolution]

note Sri Lanka male (two bottom skins) exhibit herring bone pattern and clear double lacing, the darker pigments being iridescent turquoise black and bronze. Nominate Indian has wider barring and in a more variegated pattern. True. The differences are difficult to sus out but once you are looking in the right place the differences are more obvious, however subtle.

Indian on top, Sri Lanka on bottom

Side by side the neck colours of both sexes compared and contrasted with one another are more striking. The Sri Lanka male has a decidedly more iridescent neck, which is simultaneously an electrified cerulean and a deep violet blue. The nominate Indian exhibits a more cobalt neck colour without the warmer deep purple hue of the violet.

Sri Lanka males have larger secondary wing speculums and they are violet blue and sapphire. The nominate Indian has sapphire and turquoise blue wing speculum. The Sri Lanka form has more light reflective and hence more visually arresting secondary wing coverts. The Sri Lanka form has substantially more black in the wings and less ivory compared with Indian.

 

[clinton9]

Frank,
As I checked peafowls in www.indianaturewatch.net, I noticed ...
Wild IB peachicks too grey in colour for IB peachicks, which are rufous in colour.

1-year-old IB peacock with normal colour on tail feathers

....But this 1-year-old IB peacock had barrings on tail feathers...I am not sure if this is really the new race of wild IB peafowl ???

Clinton.

 

[Resolution]

Juveniles have barred dorsal regions. Subadult males look more like their fathers with a subadult train. These birds look to be typical Indian Peafowl. Typical and Peafowl don't really go in the same sentence though do they? Beautiful. The bird wth barred retrices is a bit unusual but it's far from typical in wild birds. Does the photo have any information as to where it was taken?

 

[Dany12]

Since Indian independence (1947) 50% of the peacock has disappeared!
Because of agricultural sprays there are hundreds of peacock deaths each year.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110302/pb5.jpg

Are there still wild peacocks in eastern Pakistan?

 

[clinton9]

Hi Resolution,
Try www.indianaturewatch.com as it had loads of photoes of wild IB peafowls.
I think Dany12 may of use to you in send you the photoes of freshly dead peafowls, as I feel the 1-year-old peacock, with barred tail feathers may be p.cristatus singhalensis. The female peahen had buff belly rather than dull white belly, a likely sign of p.c. singhalensis.

Clinton.

 

[clinton9]

Hi Dany12,
Do you lives in Sir Lanka ??? Been to Sri Lanka ???

Photoes of both alive and dead wild IB peafowls in Sri Lanka will be appreciated, as I wondered the photo of a courting 1-year-old peacock with barred tail feathers were pavo cristatus singhalensis or not.

Can you please post the photoes of pavo cristatus singhalensis in immature plumages
1-year-old
2-year-old
peachicks

I would like the photoes of open wings of p.c.singhalensis of both sexes, please.

Thanks

Clinton.

 

[FrankYLegend]

Quote:
I think you're right... So much for the species being on "least concern" in IUCN.

Captive birds right now don't help; they may be integrades between singhalensis. Many captive birds lack the iridescent speculums found in wild forms.

The wild birds are very slender similar to Green Peafowl, captive Peafowl are rather chubby; the same goes for Green Peafowl that have been domesticated.

I also found that:
"In Pakistan the Indian Blue Peafowl in the wild state is only found in Tharparkar district of the province of Sind bordering India and in a small area of Azad Kashmir."

So Pavo cristatus isn't exactly "least concern". Unfortunately they don't evaluate stuff like genetic pollution or hybridization much (as with Golden/Lady Amherst and Red Junglefowl).

and here's another interesting bird from Thailand:

The crest is strange and so is the colour of the neck. Spicifer-imperator integrade?