Male © Ayuwat Jearwattanakanok eBird S55703839 Macaulay Library ML 156541651
Female © Christoph Moning
Male © Vatcharavee Sriprasertsil
Female © Tom Wheatley
Male display © Ayuwat Jearwattanakanok

Great Argus Argusianus argus

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Identification

POWERED BY MERLIN

The great tail- and wing-fanning courtship display of the male Great Argus is among the most remarkable on Earth. At rest, the long feathers and tail feathers give the blue-headed male an excessively lengthy, freight-train-like appearance. Female more warmly colored than male but lacks long plumes and has paler blue head. Inhabits lowland to foothill forests with a relatively thin understory and mature trees, from which the male’s lovelorn-sounding courtship call “kow-WOW” resonates loudly, even as it remains frustratingly hidden.

POWERED BY MERLIN