Abstract
Peacock Pheasants constitute a group of exquisitely beautiful little birds, related to the Argus Pheasants, but Argus are much larger and have tremendous wings and tails, and form the connecting link between the Peacock Pheasants and Peacocks.
Peacock Pheasants are distributed from the Himalayas to Sumatra, east to Borneo and to the Palawan Islands. There are six species and six subspecies, two of which are rare and endangered in the wild.
Peacock Pheasants have small slender bodies, short decidedly rounded wings with the feathers of the upper coverts much prolonged; tails are long and composed of twelve feathers, broad at the extremity and slightly graduated. The feathers on the upper coverts resemble those beneath and form the same color markings. The long thin legs are armed with from two to six spurs; the toes are short with small claws; moderate size bill slightly curved towards the tip and covered with feathers at the base. The plumage of the males are covered with numerous eyes or ocelli upon the tail and occasionally on the mantle and wing covers. Some males also possess a erectile crest and can also raise the: plumage of the lower neck and upper mantle, during a courtship display. Most males acquire their adult plumage at their second year.
Female pheasants are dainty little things and much duller and smaller than the males, with traces of eyes or ocelli on their wings and tails. This is a camouflage as the female does all of the incubating of the eggs and blends into the dense vegetation of the natural lands.
The courtship display of the Peacock Pheasants is one of the most beautiful of all the pheasants. The first sign of the male starting to display is the repeated raising and lowering of his head or crest, and the bringing of his crest forward until it partially conceals the beak. If the female comes closer, you may notice a parted spreading of both wings and tail, and if the hen comes over to him, the male will pick up a meal worm or morsel of food and with several shakes of his head, drop the food to the ground. At this stage the male freezes in a crouching
. position with his breast on the ground, and his head turned sideways to show off his crest and neck. His wings and tail spread so that they form a complete half circle fanning out to within an inch or two of the ground, their eyes or ocelli and even the shorter feathers showing clearly outside those of the secondaries and wing coverts.
The first of the six species and probably my favorite is the Palawan Peacock Pheasant (Pollyplectron emphanum). The first specimens were collected in 1877 on the island of Palawan off the north coast of Borneo. Two distinct color phases live on the island with a fine line dividing them. In both of the color phases the males have very striking plumage. One color phase has stripes and the other has a white spot. The males in both color phases have bright green crests, mantle and wings rich blue bordered with green, the back and tail black mottled rufous buffs, the longest tail feathers have green ocelli framed in black, the throat is gray, breast and under parts black, and legs gray generally with spurs on each leg.
My first Palawan's were obtained in the 1940's as imported birds. After about a year, the hens started to lay and the eggs were fertile. Once the baby Palawans are started there is no need to worry, they will take care of themselves and get their fair share of food.
Young Pala wans have a peculiar trait of hiding under a hen's tail and they come forward only when called by the hen.
Palawans lay only two eggs per clutch.
If using bantams for setting the eggs, I add four other eggs of the same size. The six eggs help to distribute the hen's weight evenly and prevent breakage.
When the chicks begin breaking out of the shells just leave them alone as nature has provided enough nourishment to last the chicks twenty-four hours. It also pays to leave the empty shells in the nest as they off-set the weight of the hen and help keep the young from being smashed.
After the chicks are twelve hours old I feed the hen all the grain she can eat and also feed her meal worms and hard boiled eggs. At this time the hen should be more likely to call the young chicks out to feed. After the chicks start to eat you are on your way to having young Palawans.
I always check the coops the last thing in the evenings to make sure that all of the baby birds are under the hens. If they are not I put 'them under by hand. Over the past 25 to 30 years I have raised a number of Palawans. I now incubate all of the eggs by taking 6 to 8 eggs from a pair, leaving the last two for the hen to raise. I have found that the Pala wan hens make very good mothers and I normally raise two chicks from them each year.
My next favorite would be the Germains Peacock Pheasants (Polyplectron Germaini}, coming from the forests of South Vietnam and Laos. The males are dark grayish brown with the mantle and wings having large round eyes or ocelli of metallic violet blue, encircled in black with a brown border, the tail feathers green ringed with black and pale gray, the facial skin is red, legs and bill are blackish gray. Females are patterned similar differing only by being smaller and duller.
Germains were very common here in California in the 40's and 50's, and I believe I payed about $15 .00 for my first pair. They lay two eggs and are raised the same as the other Peacock Pheasant groups.
Gray Peacock Pheasants (Polyplectron Bicalcaratum), are the most wide spread of all the peacock pheasants, with five subspecies, ranging from the east end of the Himalayas to the Gulf of Tonkin, and south to Malaya and North Vietnam. One species is on the island of Hainon. All five subspecies seem to be similar with the exception of the Hainon, others being a little grayer or a little browner. It is very difficult to tell the difference between the rare pheasants.
The only species that I have is the Gray Peacock Pheasant (Bricalcortum). Males are large grayish with white spots, the ocelli on the mantle and wings are light blue-ringed with black and white, tail coverts emerald green shading to purple, ringed with black, cheeks and throat whitish gray, bill and legs gray. The female is much smaller than the male, the plumage being darker and duller. I have had a gray hen lay up to 16 eggs in one season. The Grays are very tame and charming birds with a quiet temperament, and I highly recommend them for most of your aviaries.
Malay Peacock Pheasants (Polyplectron malacense}, my only experience with this pheasnat was in the SO's. There were two pair imported by Duwe Burdon and Mel Strain, unfortunately the females were lost in shipment and only 2 males arrived, I bought the 1 male from Duwe Burdon and mated it to a gray female, as they are about the same size. The female laid a few eggs but only one was fertile, and it did not hatch.
The male brownish gray with black spots, light brown mantle and wings with blue-green eyes or occelli, the tail buff barred with blue-green occellis, crest is of a hair like feather, with purple reflections, bill and legs are gray, the facial skin is light orange, eyes are whitish gray. The female, small in size, with light brown barred in block, buff throat, tail feather have triangular block occelli, the legs and bill dark gray, eyes brown.