Bornean peacock-pheasant facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bornean peacock-pheasant |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Polyplectron
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| Species: |
schleiermacheri
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| Synonyms | |
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Polyplectron malacense schleiermacheri |
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The Bornean peacock-pheasant (Polyplectron schleiermacheri) is a beautiful, medium-sized bird. It's a type of pheasant that lives only on the island of Borneo. This bird is very rare and not much is known about it, making it quite mysterious! It lives in the lowland forests of Borneo.
What Does It Look Like?
This pheasant can grow up to 50 centimeters (about 20 inches) long. It has feathers that are reddish-brown with black spots. On its head, it has a long crest and special feathers on the back of its neck. Below its head, its feathers are black. Around its bluish eyes, the skin is bare and red.
The sides of its chest shine with a metallic blue-green color. This bright color borders its white throat and the middle of its upper chest. The Bornean peacock-pheasant has twenty-two tail feathers. Each feather has large, blue-green spots that look like eyes. These spots are called ocelli. The bird can spread its tail feathers like a fan to show off these beautiful "eyes."
The female Bornean peacock-pheasant is smaller than the male. Her feathers are a duller brown. She has brown eyes and does not have spurs (sharp points) on her feet.
Its Relatives
The Bornean peacock-pheasant is related to other peacock-pheasants, like the Malayan peacock-pheasant and the Palawan peacock-pheasant. For a long time, people thought the Bornean peacock-pheasant was just a type of Malayan peacock-pheasant. However, these two birds live in different places and have some clear differences.
Male Bornean peacock-pheasants have special feathers on their chest and upper neck that look very different from the Malayan species. It's harder to tell the females apart. But scientists have found that the tail feathers of the Bornean species are somewhere in between the Palawan and Malayan peacock-pheasants in how they look and their patterns.
Why Is It Endangered?
The Bornean peacock-pheasant is a very rare bird. Because of this, it is listed as an Endangered species on the IUCN Red List. This list helps track animals that are at risk of disappearing forever.
There are a few reasons why this bird is in danger:
- Habitat Loss: The forests where these pheasants live are being cut down. This means they are losing their homes.
- Small Population: There are not many of these birds left in the wild.
- Limited Range: They only live in a small area on Borneo, which makes them more vulnerable.
This bird is also listed on Appendix II of CITES. CITES is an international agreement that helps control the trade of wild animals and plants. Being on Appendix II means that trading these birds is controlled to make sure their survival is not threatened.
