37-479: The see-see partridge ( Ammoperdix griseogularis ) is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes , gallinaceous birds. This partridge has its main native range from southeast Turkey through Syria and Iraq east to Iran and Pakistan . It is closely related and similar to its counterpart in Egypt and Arabia , the sand partridge , Ammoperdix heyi . This 22–25 cm bird
74-679: A family of heavy, ground-living birds , which includes pheasants , partridges , junglefowl , chickens , turkeys , Old World quail , and peafowl . The family includes many of the most popular gamebirds . The family includes 185 species divided into 54 genera. It was formerly broken up into two subfamilies , the Phasianinae and the Perdicinae . However, this treatment is now known to be paraphyletic and polyphyletic , respectively, and more recent evidence supports breaking it up into two subfamilies: Rollulinae and Phasianinae , with
111-1138: A short distance on rounded wings. The song is a whistled hwit-hwit-hwit . Gamebird Phasianiformes Galliformes / ˌ ɡ æ l ɪ ˈ f ɔːr m iː z / is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys , chickens , quail , and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are often reared by humans for their meat and eggs, or hunted as game birds. The order contains about 290 species , inhabiting every continent except Antarctica, and divided into five families : Phasianidae (including chicken, quail, partridges , pheasants , turkeys, peafowl (peacocks) and grouse ), Odontophoridae (New World quail), Numididae (guinea fowl), Cracidae (including chachalacas and curassows), and Megapodiidae (incubator birds like malleefowl and brush-turkeys ). They adapt to most environments except for innermost deserts and perpetual ice. Many gallinaceous species are skilled runners and escape predators by running rather than flying. Males of most species are more colorful than
148-588: A single subfamily Phasianinae. The grouse, turkeys, true pheasants, etc., would then become tribes of this subfamily, similar to how the Coturnicinae are commonly split into a quail and a spurfowl tribe. In 2021, Kimball et al . found the family to comprise three distinct subfamilies, with two containing multiple genera; these results were followed by the International Ornithological Congress . The partridge of Europe
185-430: A varied diet, with foods taken ranging from purely vegetarian diets of seeds, leaves, fruits, tubers, and roots, to small animals including insects, insect grubs, and even small reptiles. Most species either specialise in feeding on plant matter or are predatory, although the chicks of most species are insectivorous. In addition to the variation in diet, a considerable amount of variation exists in breeding strategies among
222-436: Is a resident breeder in dry, open and often hilly country. It nests in a scantily lined ground scrape laying 8-16 eggs. The see-see partridge takes a wide variety of seeds and some insect food. See-see partridge is a rotund bird, mainly sandy-brown with wavy white and brown flank stripes. The male has a grey head with a black stripe through the eye and a white cheek patch. The neck sides are speckled with white. The head pattern
259-473: Is not closely related to other partridge-like Galliformes, as already indicated by its sexually dimorphic coloration and possession of more than 14 rectrices , traits it shares with the other advanced phasianids. However, among these its relationships are obscure; it is unclear whether it is closer to the turkeys or to certain short-tailed pheasants like Ithaginis , Lophophorus , Pucrasia , and Tragopan . In 2021, Kimball et al . found it to belong to
296-475: Is short and compact, particularly in species that dig deep in the earth for food such as the Mearns quail . Males of the bigger galliform species often boast brightly-coloured plumage , as well as facial ornaments such as combs, wattles , and/or crests . The Phasianidae are mostly an Old World family, with a distribution that includes most of Europe and Asia (except the far north), all of Africa except
333-414: Is the best distinction from sand partridge. The female is a very washed-out version of the male, and is more difficult to distinguish from its relative due to the weak head pattern. Usually it is seen in pairs or, at the most, in flocks of two to four birds. But flocks of more than fifty birds have also been seen. When disturbed, see-see partridge prefers to run rather than fly, but if necessary it flies
370-460: Is the largest of the branch Galliformes , comprising 185 species divided into 54 genera. This group includes the pheasants and partridges, junglefowl chickens, quail, and peafowl. Turkeys and grouse have also been recognized as having their origins in the pheasant- and partridge-like birds. Until the early 1990s, this family was broken up into two subfamilies : the Phasianinae , including pheasants , tragopans , junglefowls , and peafowls ; and
407-527: The Paleogene , namely the Gallinuloididae , Paraortygidae and Quercymegapodiidae . In the early Cenozoic , some additional birds may or may not be early Galliformes, though even if they are, they are unlikely to belong to extant families: From the mid- Eocene onwards – about 45 Mya or so, true galliforms are known, and these completely replace their older relatives in the early Neogene . Since
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#1732772650364444-492: The Perdicinae , including partridges , Old World quails , and francolins . Molecular phylogenies have shown that these two subfamilies are not each monophyletic , but actually constitute only one lineage with one common ancestor. For example, some partridges (genus Perdix ) are more closely affiliated to pheasants , whereas Old World quails and partridges from the genus Alectoris are closer to junglefowls . The earliest fossil records of phasianids date to
481-639: The Phasianidae are expanded in current taxonomy to include the former Tetraonidae and Meleagrididae as subfamilies . The Anseriformes ( waterfowl ) and the Galliformes together make up the Galloanserae . They are basal among the living neognathous birds, and normally follow the Paleognathae (ratites and tinamous) in modern bird classification systems. This was first proposed in
518-632: The Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy and has been the one major change of that proposed scheme that was almost universally adopted. However, the Galliformes as they were traditionally delimited are called Gallomorphae in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, which splits the Cracidae and Megapodiidae as an order " Craciformes ". This is not a natural group, however, but rather an erroneous result of the now-obsolete phenetic methodology employed in
555-455: The paraphyletic former ordering of Phasianidae, which primarily grouped genera based on appearance and body plans. Extinct genus assignment follows the Mikko's Phylogeny Archive and Paleofile.com websites. Cladogram based on a 2021 study by De Chen and collaborators that sequenced DNA flanking ultra-conserved elements . The extinct Himalayan quail (genus Ophrysia ) was not included in
592-480: The phylogeny of the Phasianidae has resisted complete resolution. A tentative list of the higher-level galliform taxa , listed in evolutionary sequence, is: The relationships of many pheasants and partridges were formerly very badly resolved and much confounded by adaptive radiation (in the former) and convergent evolution (in the latter). Thus, the bulk of the Phasianidae was alternatively treated as
629-403: The tragopans nest higher up in trees or stumps of bushes. Nests can vary from mounds of vegetation to slight scrapes in the ground. As many as 20 eggs can be laid in the nest, although 7-12 are the more usual numbers, with smaller numbers in tropical species. Incubation times can range from 14–30 days depending on the species, and is almost always done solely by the hen, although a few involve
666-651: The Late Cretaceous Portezuelo Formation ( Turonian - Coniacian , about 90 Mya) in the Sierra de Portezuelo ( Argentina ) has also been suggested to be an early galliform relative. This is a partial coracoid of a neornithine bird, which in its general shape and particularly the wide and deep attachment for the muscle joining the coracoid and the humerus bone resembles the more basal lineages of galliforms. Additional galliform-like pangalliformes are represented by extinct families from
703-414: The Phasianidae. Compared to birds in general, a large number of species do not engage in monogamy (the typical breeding system of most birds). The francolins of Africa and some partridges are reportedly monogamous, but polygamy has been reported in the pheasants and junglefowl, some quail, and the breeding displays of peacocks have been compared to those of a lek . Nesting usually occurs on the ground; only
740-427: The Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy. Phenetic studies do not distinguish between plesiomorphic and apomorphic characters, which leads to basal lineages appearing as monophyletic groups. Historically, the buttonquails (Turnicidae), mesites (Mesitornithidae) and the hoatzin ( Opisthocomus hoazin ) were placed in the Galliformes, too. The former are now known to be shorebirds adapted to an inland lifestyle, whereas
777-708: The absence of bone material, their relationships cannot be determined except that they are apparently avian in origin. Modern genera of phasianids start appearing around the Oligocene - Miocene boundary, roughly 25–20 Mya. It is not well known whether the living genera of the other, older, galliform families originated around the same time or earlier, though at least in the New World quail, pre-Neogene forms seem to belong to genera that became entirely extinct later on. A number of Paleogene to mid-Neogene fossils are quite certainly Galliformes, but their exact relationships in
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#1732772650364814-549: The ancestors of galliformes were small and lived in the ground (unlike water for Anseriformes ) which protected them from the blast and destruction. Fossils of these galliform-like birds originate in the Late Cretaceous , most notably those of Austinornis lentus . Its partial left tarsometatarsus was found in the Austin Chalk near Fort McKinney, Texas , dating to about 85 million years ago (Mya). This bird
851-653: The driest deserts , and south into much of eastern Australia and (formerly) New Zealand . The Meleagridini (turkeys) are native to the New World , while the Tetraonini (grouse) are circumpolar; both of these are members of Phasianinae . The greatest diversity of species is in Southeast Asia and Africa. The Congo peacock is specific to the African Congo . Overall, Rollulinae is restricted to
888-621: The earliest representatives of living galliform families apparently belong to the Phasianidae – the youngest family of galliforms, the other families of Galliformes must be at least of Early Eocene origin but might even be as old as the Late Cretaceous. The ichnotaxon Tristraguloolithus cracioides is based on fossil eggshell fragments from the Late Cretaceous Oldman Formation of southern Alberta , Canada, which are similar to chachalaca eggs, but in
925-1027: The females, with often elaborate courtship behaviors that include strutting, fluffing of tail or head feathers, and vocal sounds. They are mainly nonmigratory. Several species have been domesticated during their long and extensive relationships with humans. The name galliformes derives from " gallus ", Latin for " rooster ". Common names are gamefowl or gamebirds , landfowl , gallinaceous birds , or galliforms . Galliforms and waterfowl (order Anseriformes ) are collectively called fowl . The living Galliformes were once divided into seven or more families . Despite their distinctive appearance, grouse and turkeys probably do not warrant separation as families due to their recent origin from partridge - or pheasant -like birds. The turkeys became larger after their ancestors colonized temperate and subtropical North America , where pheasant-sized competitors were absent. The ancestors of grouse, though, adapted to harsh climates and could thereby colonize subarctic regions. Consequently,
962-479: The group undertake long migrations , like ptarmigans and Old World quail . Several species in the family have been widely introduced around the world, particularly pheasants, which have been introduced to Europe, Australia, and the Americas, specifically for hunting purposes. Captive populations of peafowl, domestic chickens, and turkeys have also escaped or been released and became feral . The phasianids have
999-708: The king quail up to 300 cm (120 in) (including the elongated train) in green peafowl , thus they beat even the true parrots in length diversity within a family of birds. Generally, sexual dimorphism is greater in larger-sized birds, with males tending to be larger than females. They are generally plump, with broad, relatively short wings and powerful legs. Many have a spur on each leg , most prominently with junglefowl (including chickens ), pheasants , turkeys , and peafowl . Some, like quails , partridges , and grouse , have reduced spurs to none at all. A few have two spurs on each of their legs instead of one, including peacock-pheasants and spurfowl . The bill
1036-555: The late Oligocene epoch, about 30 million years ago. Taxonomy and ordering is based on Kimball et al ., 2021, which was accepted by the International Ornithological Congress . Tribes and subfamily names are based on the 4th edition of the Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World . Genera without a tribe are considered to belong to tribe incertae sedis . This is
1073-441: The latter containing multiple tribes within two clades . The New World quail (Odontophoridae) and guineafowl (Numididae) were formerly sometimes included in this family, but are now typically placed in families of their own; conversely, grouse and turkeys , formerly often treated as distinct families (Tetraonidae and Meleagrididae, respectively), are now known to be deeply nested within Phasianidae, so they are now included in
1110-566: The main survivors of the K-T Event , that killed off the rest of the dinosaurs. The dominant birds of the dinosaur era were the enantiornithes , toothed birds that dominated the trees and skies. Unlike those enantiornithes, the ancestors of the galliformes were a niche group that were toothless and ground-dwelling. When the asteroid impact killed off all non-avian dinosaurs, and the dominant birds, it destroyed all creatures that lived in trees and on open ground. The enantiornithes were wiped out, but
1147-618: The male partaking in caring for the eggs and chicks, like the willow ptarmigan and bobwhite quail . The red junglefowl of Southeast Asia is the wild ancestor of the domesticated chicken , the most important bird in agriculture, and the wild turkey similarly is the ancestor of the domestic turkey . Several species of pheasants and partridges are extremely important to humans. Ring-necked pheasants , several partridge and quail species, and some francolins have been widely introduced and managed as game birds for hunting. Several species are threatened by human activities. The clade Phasianidae
See-see partridge - Misplaced Pages Continue
1184-688: The mesites are probably closely related to pigeons and doves . The relationships of the hoatzin are entirely obscure, and it is usually treated as a monotypic order Opisthocomiformes to signify this. The fossil record for the Galliformes is incomplete. Megapodiidae – megapodes (7 genera, 21 extant species) [REDACTED] Cracidae – chachalacas, curassows, guans (11 genera, 57 species) [REDACTED] Numididae – guineafowl (4 genera, 8 species) [REDACTED] Odontophoridae – New World quail (10 genera, 34 species) [REDACTED] Phasianidae – pheasants & allies (54 genera, 188 species) [REDACTED] Galloanserae -like birds were one of
1221-493: The order cannot be determined: For a long time, the pheasants, partridges, and relatives were indiscriminately lumped in the Phasianidae, variously including or excluding turkeys, grouse, New World quail, and guineafowl, and divided into two subfamilies – the Phasianinae (pheasant-like forms) and the Perdicinae (partridge-like forms). This crude arrangement was long considered to be in serious need of revision, but even with modern DNA sequence analyses and cladistic methods,
1258-507: The present family. Phasianids are terrestrial. They range in weight from 43 g (1.5 oz) in the case of the king quail to 6 kg (13 lb) in the case of the Indian peafowl . If turkeys are included, rather than classified as a separate family, then the considerably heavier wild turkey capably reaches a maximum weight of more than 17 kg (37 lb). Length in this taxonomic family can vary from 12.5 cm (4.9 in) in
1295-1161: The subfamily Phasianini , alongside the true pheasants. Living Galliformes based on the work by John Boyd. Talegalla Leipoa [REDACTED] Alectura Aepypodius [REDACTED] Macrocephalon [REDACTED] Eulipoa [REDACTED] Megapodius [REDACTED] Chamaepetes Penelopina Aburria Penelope [REDACTED] Ortalis [REDACTED] Oreophasis [REDACTED] Nothocrax [REDACTED] Pauxi [REDACTED] Mitu [REDACTED] Crax [REDACTED] Guttera Numida [REDACTED] Acryllium [REDACTED] Agelastes [REDACTED] Ptilopachus [REDACTED] Rhynchortyx [REDACTED] Cyrtonyx [REDACTED] Phasianidae 1st row ( Rollulinae ): crested partridge , red-billed partridge , ferruginous partridge ; 2nd row ( Phasianinae "non-erectile clade"): Sri Lankan junglefowl , Indian peafowl , harlequin quail ; 3rd row (Phasianinae "erectile clade"): common pheasant , wild turkey , western capercaillie Rollulinae Phasianinae Gallidae The Phasianidae are
1332-424: The tropics of East and Southeast Asia and the mountains of Tanzania , Phasianinae have a circumpolar range in the temperate zones of both Eurasia and North America (but also range into the tropics of east and southeast Asia), and Pavoninae have a wide range across Africa, Eurasia, and Australasia in both temperate and tropical zones. The family is generally sedentary and resident, although some members of
1369-423: Was quite certainly closely related to Galliformes, but whether it was a part of these or belongs elsewhere in the little-known galliform branch of Galloanserae is not clear. However, in 2004, Clarke classified it as a member of the larger group Pangalliformes , more closely related to chickens than to ducks, but not a member of the crown group that includes all modern galliformes. Another specimen, PVPH 237, from
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