Rheinardia ocellata

IUCN

Alias：Rheinardia ocellata，Crested Argus

Basic Information

Scientific classification

name：Rheinardia ocellata
Aliases：Rheinardia ocellata，Crested Argus
Outline：Landfowl
Family：Pheasant P.family P.Genus

Vital signs

length：72-76cm
Weight：No textual research information is available
lifetime：No textual research information is available

Feature

It is a large pheasant with a long tail and an upright crest on its head

Details

The Crested Argus (Rheinardia ocellata) has two subspecies.

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The crested pheasant usually moves alone in its territory. They only come together during the breeding season. The species is polygamous in the wild, with males performing elaborate courtship rituals during the mating season, calling and dancing to attract mates. The feathers on the head are raised and ruffled, and the call frequency is highest during the breeding season. The breeding season in Laos is from March to May, but in the Northern Hemisphere it is from March to June. The female builds her nest on the ground and hides under jungle or low vegetation. Each clutch lays 2 eggs, incubates for 25 days, and is fed directly by the mother for the first few days of life. Once hatched, the chicks instinctively hide under their mother's tail feathers, which unfold like an umbrella to protect them from rain and predators' eyes).

The pheasant eats mainly berries, seeds, insects, leaves, fruits, and sometimes amphibians.

Listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2016 Red List of Threatened Species ver 3.1 - Near Threatened (NT).

Protect wild animals and eliminate wild meat.

Maintaining ecological balance is everyone's responsibility!

Location

It is found in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia and Vietnam.
In Laos and Vietnam, the habitat is 1,500 meters above sea level, and the Da Lat Plateau is 1700-1900 meters high. Although recorded in degraded logging forest habitats, the highest densities occur in lowlands as low as 900 m. In Malaysia, the species inhabits mountain forests, generally 800-1100 above sea level.

Form

The male is 74-239 cm long (including tail length), and the female 90 cm. It's a pheasant with a long tail. It has blackish brown feathers with white spots. The Malay subspecies (R. o. nigrescens) has yellow eyebrows and a drooping throat, dark brown plumage, and a white crest. The named subspecies (R. o. ocellata) has a short crest, mostly brown-topped, white eyebrows and throat, chestnut brown foreneck, numerous small spots marked dark chestnut upper body feathers, and a gray tail. The female is small, with a short tail, lighter brown with black and yellow stripes and spots, and somewhat pale underbody. The male has a pink beak, brown pupils and a blue face without feathers. The head has upright crown feathers. The male has 12 tail feathers, up to 2 meters long and up to 20 centimeters wide. The female is similar in appearance, with a shorter crown and tail feathers.