GREY JUNGLEFOWL-MALE Tadoba Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra 21/06/2014 The Grey Junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii), also known as Sonnerats junglefowl, is a wild relative of domestic fowl that is endemic to India. This species is found mainly in peninsular India and towards the northern boundary, it sometimes hybridizes in the wild with red junglefowl. They hybridize readily in captivity and sometimes with free-range domestic fowl kept in habitations close to forests. The calls are loud and distinctive and they are hunted for meat and the long neck hackle feathers that are sought after for making fishing lures. The male has a black cape with ochre spots and the body plumage on a grey ground colour is finely patterned. The elongated neck feathers are dark and end in a small, hard, yellowish plate; this peculiar structure making them popular for making high-grade artificial flies.The male has red wattles and combs but not as strongly developed as in the red junglefowl. Legs of males are red and have spurs while the yellow legs of females usually lack spurs.The central tail feathers are long and sickle shaped. Males have an eclipse plumage in which they moult their colourful neck feathers in summer during or after the breeding season. The female is duller and has black and white streaking on the underparts and yellow legs. They are found in thickets, on the forest floor and open scrub
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 11:43:54 +0000
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