Burung pegar

Burung pegar, burung apa pun dari famili Phasianidae (ordo Galliformes) yang lebih besar dari burung puyuh atau ayam hutan. Sebagian besar unggas — sekitar 50 spesies dalam sekitar 16 genera subfamili Phasianinae — adalah burung berekor panjang dari hutan dan ladang terbuka, tempat mereka memberi makan pada kawanan kecil. Semua memiliki panggilan serak dan berbagai catatan lainnya. Jantan dari sebagian besar spesies berwarna mencolok; betina berwarna mencolok. Burung jantan — garang di musim kawin — memiliki satu atau lebih taji kaki dan mungkin memiliki ornamen berdaging di wajahnya. Laki-laki yang berpacaran terkadang bertarung sampai mati di hadapan ayam, yang tampaknya sama sekali tidak peduli dengan keributan.

Ulangan

Destinasi Afrika: Fakta atau Fiksi?

Negara terbesar di Afrika adalah Aljazair.

Pusat distribusi unggas awalnya dari Cina ke Malaysia. Namun, beberapa spesies telah dinaturalisasi di tempat lain — sekitar dua ribu tahun yang lalu di Anatolia dan Eropa — dan banyak yang dihargai sebagai tanaman hias di kebun binatang dan koleksi pribadi; mereka juga dibesarkan untuk olahraga dalam mempertahankan pemotretan. Beberapa spesies telah dibawa ke ambang kepunahan dengan berburu.

Burung umum (Phasianus colchicus) memiliki 20-30 ras yang tersebar di seluruh Asia. Burung dinaturalisasi di tempat lain adalah campuran ras, dengan strain ringneck (atau Cina) abu-abu biasanya mendominasi.

The pheasant prefers grain fields near brushy cover. The male, about 90 cm (35 inches) long, with streaming, narrow, cross-barred tail, has a brown back and coppery breast, purplish-green neck, and two small ear tufts; his entire body is speckled and barred. He collects a harem of about three brownish, relatively short-tailed hens. The grassy nest contains about 10 eggs, which hatch in three to four weeks.

The green pheasant, or kiji (P. versicolor), of Japan, is mainly metallic green. It is sensitive to earth tremors not felt by humans and calls in concert when a quake impends.

The argus pheasants, of southeastern Asia, carry long feathers covered with “eyes.” Two distinct types are known: the crested argus, or ocellated pheasants (Rheinardia), and the great argus (Argusianus). The great argus of Malaya, Sumatra, and Borneo (A. argus) can attain a length of 2 m (6.5 feet). During display the large “eyes” seem to revolve as the bird quivers.

Ornamental pheasants have been kept for centuries, and the birds are represented in collections throughout the world. The best-known ornamentals in the West are two species of ruffed pheasants: Lady Amherst’s (Chrysolophus amherstiae) and the golden pheasant (C. pictus).

Several pheasants are of exceptional coloration. Such are the monals, or Impeyan pheasants, of south-central Asia. The male Himalayan Impeyan (Lophophorus impejanus) has a metallic-green head and throat, coppery nape and neck, green-gold mantle, purplish wings, white back, orangish tail, and black underparts; the hen is streaked brown. The Chinese monal (L. lhuysii), now found only in western China, is an endangered species.

The male tragopans, or horned pheasants (Tragopan species), of Asia also, are among the world’s most colourful birds. They show a bright apron of flesh under the bill during courtship, and short fleshy horns. The white-spotted plumage may be mainly red, yellow, or gray.