Bronze-tailed Peacock-Pheasant

Overview

The bronze-tailed peacock-pheasant, also known as the Sumatran peacock-pheasant, is an Indonesian endemic bird classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It belongs to the family Phasianidae and consists of two recognised subspecies.

Identification

• Small, up to 56 cm long, dark brown pheasant with a rather small head.
• Long, narrow tail of sixteen feathers that are chestnut brown with metallic purplish bars near the tips.
• Dark grey legs; the male possesses two spurs and a yellow iris, whereas the unspurred female has a dark brown iris.

Habitat

This species is an endemic of the mountain forests of west Sumatra, Indonesia.

Did you know?

Unlike other members of its genus, this elusive bird has no ocelli, a trait that may have evolved from a comparatively small founder population during the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene.