Blue eared-pheasant © Jean Howman
WPA is dedicated not only to the conservation of the pheasants, but to all their relatives as well, and the habitats in which they live. The whole family is known as the Galliformes and also includes partridges, quail, grouse and even turkeys.
There are approximately 300 species of Galliformes, living in all major land habitats throughout the world. They are one of the most threatened bird groups in the world, but also contain some of our most familiar species. At present, an alarming 25% of the species are considered to be at risk of extinction compared with 12% of all birds. This seems at odds with the importance that many of the species have for human diets and cultures: if people value many species so much, why is the group so threatened.
Here we introduce some of the species that are the cause of this paradox.
Threatened species
Seventy three species will be listed on the 2008 IUCN Red List of threatened species as threatened with extinction, with 37 species considered to be ‘Near-threatened’. All of these species are threatened with habitat loss and the additional risk from over-exploitation is thought to be the cause of this higher level of threat than birds generally face. A list of these species can be found here.
The threatened species include the Djibouti francolin and the Trinidad piping-guan that are among the world’s most threatened species, both of which WPA is working to conserve. The rarest of all Galliformes is the Alagoas curassow from Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, which now does not survive in the wild. There is a captive population, however, that is being managed whilst conservation options are explored.
The pheasants are the most threatened of the sub-groups, with nearly half of the 50 species considered at risk of extinction. This includes some of the most spectacular birds in the world and one of them has the longest feather of any species. It is not certain which one this though, as both the Reeves’ pheasant from China and the crested argus from South East Asia both lay claim with their nearly six-foot feathers. Other pheasants are extravagantly attired in other ways, with facial skin that fills with blood and expands dramatically or has gorgeous plumage markings that are shown off when displaying.
Many of the other Galliformes also stand out for one reason for another. For example, the megapodes do not incubate their eggs, but lay them deep in the ground or decomposing vegetation and let volcanic heat, the sun or warmth from rotting litter do the job. In the Americas, the cracids are not only the most threatened family of Neotropical birds, but they are also thought to be ‘keystone’ species, vital to the dispersal of the seeds of many forest trees.
Familiar Galliformes
Blue peafowl © Gerald Cubitt www.agpix.com/cubitt
Wherever the Galliformes occur, they have an intimate relationship with human societies, causing this highly threatened order of birds to contain some of the most familiar bird species in the world.
The farmyard chicken is the domesticated version of the red junglefowl, which is found in the wild in the jungles of southern Asia. The worldwide importance of the chicken is immense; it has been estimated that there are 24 billion of them on the planet. Will we need the genetic variation in their wild relatives to ensure this food source long into the future?
The turkey that is so symbolic of our Christmas lunches and Thanksgiving dinners is descended from the wild turkey of North America. The wild species underwent a long-term decline from the 17th Century to the mid-20th Century as a result of habitat loss and hunting. Fortunately, numbers have now increased due to concerted restoration efforts and 5.5 million birds are now estimated to be in the wild.
The majestic Indian blue peafowl and its distinctive call are familiar in parks and gardens in many parts of the world. It is native to southern Asia, where it is widely revered as the vehicle of the Hindu god Kartikeya. Although the blue peafowl itself is not threatened, its close relative the green peafowl, which was once found throughout South East Asia, is threatened by habitat loss and over-hunting for food and its decorative feathers.
In many parts of the world the name 'pheasant' is only associated with the 'game pheasant' that is widely reared intensively and shot for sport. In the UK alone it is estimated that up to 30 million are released for shooting each autumn.
Where they live
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The pheasant-rich forests of the Great Himalayan National Park
© Peter Garson |
Alpine medow in the Himalayas © K. Ramesh |