Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Subsectio: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Euornithes
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Ornithurae
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Galloanseres
Ordo: Galliformes
Familia: Phasianidae
Subfamilia: Phasianinae
Genus: Lophura
Species: Lophura leucomelanos
Subspecies: L. l. crawfurdii – L. l. hamiltoni – L. l. lathami – L. l. leucomelanos – L. l. lineata – L. l. melanota – L. l. moffitti – L. l. oatesi – L. l. williamsi
Name
Lophura leucomelanos (Latham, 1790)
Synonymy
Phasianus leucomelanos (protonym)
Lophura leucomelanos, Henry Constantine Richter
References
Latham, J. 1790. Index ornithologicus, sive systema ornithologiæ; complectens avium divisionem in classes, ordines, genera, species, ipsarumque varietates: adjectis synonymis, locis, descriptionibus, &c. Volumen II: 467–920. Londini. (Leigh & Sotheby). BHL Reference page. : 633.
Vernacular names
العربية: تدرج كاليج
български: Непалски фазан
বাংলা: কালো মথুরা
brezhoneg: Fazan kalij
català: Faisà de Latham
čeština: Bažant kalij
Cymraeg: Ffesant Kalij
Deutsch: Kalifasan
English: Kalij Pheasant
Esperanto: Kalifazano
español: Faisán Kalij
français: Faisan leucomèle
हिन्दी: कालिज
magyar: Ördögfácán
italiano: Fagiano kalij
日本語: ミヤマハッカン
မြန်မာဘာသာ: ရစ်ရင်မဲ
नेपाली: कालिज
Nederlands: Nepalfazant
polski: Kiściec nepalski
پنجابی: بن ککڑ
русский: Чёрная лофура
svenska: Kalijfasan
ไทย: ไก่ฟ้าหลังเทา
中文: 黑鹇
The kalij pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos) is a pheasant found in forests and thickets, especially in the Himalayan foothills, from Pakistan to western Thailand. Males are rather variable depending on the subspecies involved, but all have an at least partially glossy bluish-black plumage, while females are overall brownish. Both sexes have a bare red face and greyish legs (the latter separating it from the red-legged silver pheasant).[2] It is generally common and widespread, though three of its eastern subspecies (L. l. oatesi, L. l. lineata, and L. l. crawfurdi) are considered threatened and L. l. moffitti is virtually unknown in the wild.[2]
The name is also spelled kaleege in old texts, such as Game Birds of India and Asia by Frank Finn,[3] though no longer in his Indian Sporting Birds.[4] The species was introduced to Hawaii[1] in 1962 as a gamebird.[5]
Taxonomy
The kalij pheasant is closely related to the silver pheasant, and the two are known to hybridize.[6] 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[2] and others as subspecies of the silver pheasant.[7] 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,[2] but this is incorrect[8]). Based on mtDNA, it was recently confirmed that L. l. lineata and L. l. crawfurdi should be regarded as subspecies of the kalij pheasant.[9]
Subspecies
The nine recognized subspecies of the kalij pheasant are, in taxonomic order:
L. l. hamiltoni J.E. Gray, 1829) – white-crested kalij pheasant – western Himalayas
L. l. leucomelanos (Latham, 1790) – nominate – forests of Nepal
L. l. melanota (Hutton, 1848) – black-backed kalij pheasant – Sikkim and western Bhutan
L. l. moffitti (Hachisuka, 1938) – black kalij pheasant – central Myanmar
L. l. lathami (J.E. Gray, 1829) – Horsfield's pheasant – eastern Bhutan and northern India to Myanmar
L. l. williamsi (Oates, 1898) – Williams' kalij pheasant – western Myanmar
L. l. oatesi (Ogilvie-Grant, 1893) – Oates' kalij pheasant – southern Myanmar
L. l. crawfurdi (J.E. Gray, 1829) – Crawfurd's pheasant – southeastern Myanmar to peninsular Thailand
L. l. lineata (Vigors, 1831) – lineated pheasant – southern Myanmar to northwestern Thailand
Description
Close-up of a male's head, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
Males have a total length of 63 to 74 cm (25 to 29 in) and females 50 to 60 cm (20 to 24 in).[2] 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.[2]
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.[2]
References
BirdLife International (2013). "Lophura leucomelanos". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
McGowan, P. J. K. (1994). Kalij Pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos). pp. 533 in: del Hoyo, J, A. Elliott, & J. Sargatal (1994). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 2. New World Vultures to Guineafowl. Lynx Edictions. ISBN 84-87334-15-6
Finn, F. (1911?). Game Birds of India and Asia.
Finn, F. (1915). Indian Sporting Birds.
"Lophura leucomelanos | Kalij pheasant". hawaiibirdingtrails.hawaii.gov. State of Hawaii. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
MacKinnon, J., & K. Phillipps (2000). A Field Guide to the Birds of China. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-854940-7
McGowan, P. J. K., A. L. Panchen (1994). Plumage variation and geographical distribution in the Kalij and Silver Pheasants. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 114: 113-123.
Robson, C. (2000). A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia. New Holland Publishers. ISBN 1-85368-313-2
Moulin, S., E. Randi, C. Tabarroni, & A. Hennache (2003). Mitochondrial DNA diversification among the subspecies of the Silver and Kalij Pheasants, Lophura nycthemera and L. leucomelanos, Phasianidae. Ibis 145: E1-E11
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
