Mountain Peacock-Pheasant Polyplectron inopinatum Scientific name definitions

Male c. 65 cm (tail 32–40 cm); female c. 46 cm (tail 22–27·5 cm). Long-bodied and long-tailed peacock-pheasant that lacks obvious crest; easily separated from P. malacense by darker head and underparts, reddish-brown upperparts and longer, narrower tail (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Characteristic contrast between mainly chestnut mantle, wings and back , and greyish-black underparts and head. Male has very small blue ocelli (with a white spot at the base of each ocellus) on mantle and wings. Female resembles male but is considerably smaller, with shorter tail; ocelli on upperparts replaced by black spots. Bill and legs grey, and irides brown; male has one or two spurs (2 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ), female none (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Female Rheinardia ocellata and Argusianus argus are both much larger with distinctive head patterns (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). First-year male is smaller and duller than adult female (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Juvenile similar to adult female, but young male is longer-legged.

Mountains of Peninsular Malaysia from Cameron Highlands S to Genting Highlands, in Larut Range to NW, and on E outlying peaks Gunung Tahan and Gunung Benom. Some evidence that the species occurs also in extreme S Thailand (5 BirdLife International (2013). IUCN Red List for birds. URL: http://www.birdlife.org (download Aug 2013). Close ).

Occurs throughout unlogged upper dipterocarp forest , and both lower montane and upper montane forest, from 820 m (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) up to 2000 m, with one record of a feather at 600 m perhaps indicating that the species at least occasionally, or locally, occurs lower (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

No information available.

One crop contained spiders, white ants, several grubs and other unidentified animal material; also reports of birds having consumed other invertebrates (e.g. beetles) (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) and fruits of rattan Calamus. No further information available.

Considered to be generally less vocal than congenerics (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Male territorial call comprises 1–4 (usually two) loud buzzing, drawn-out squawks or clucks, with a slightly electric quality, given in bouts 5–6 seconds apart; alarm call is similar to clucks of domestic chicken; also gives a burbling, descending whistle (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Season apparently suspected to usually commence in Jan, based on female on lightly incubated eggs in Jan in Malaysia, small chick collected in late Feb and half-grown young with female in Jun (2 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Mating system assumed to be monogamous, based on limited sexual dimorphism (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), but no concrete data. Male display (from observations in captivity) includes body-shakes, rapid walking while alternately flexing each wing, walking erectly while flapping spread wings, drooping the flight feathers and tilting the tail towards female, near-frontal display with lowered breast, raised wing and cocked tail, high-stepping movements with head and neck feathers ruffled, head-bobbing, and ritual food-passing (2 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Very little information from the wild: an old nest found at altitude of 970 m, placed among rocks between two fallen trees, while another was a virtually unlined scrape (26 cm by 10 cm) (2 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ) under a rhododendron in dense elfin forest (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). In captivity: clutch of two buffy-white (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) eggs, 51·3–53 mm × 43·8–44 mm (2 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ); incubation 19–21 days, by female alone (1 Madge, S., and P. McGowan (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse, including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and Allies. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); chicks have rufous down above, buff below.

VULNERABLE. Mace-Lande: vulnerable. CITES III in Malaysia. Based on anecdotal information and extent of habitat available, population is estimated to be 2500–10,000 mature individuals within overall range of 12,700 km², and is probably stable or declining slightly. Present in Fraser’s Hill (30 km²) and Cameron Highlands (649 km²) Wildlife Sanctuaries, Krau Wildlife Reserve (530 km²) and Taman Negara National Park (4343 km²). Known from total of 14  localities, but at just six has the species been recorded since the 1970s, at two of which the species is described as common (6 McGowan, P., M. Gillman, and M. Dodd (1998). Assessing the status of poorly known species: lessons from partridges and pheasants of Southeast Asia. Biological Conservation 83(1):1–7. Close ). Species has restricted range, occurring in Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia (above 600 m) Endemic Bird Area, although strongly suspected to also occur in S Thailand in Yala province, based on a tail feather thought to be of this species (7 Anon. (2002). Mountain Peacock Pheasant in Thailand? Bull. Oriental Bird Club. 35: 61. Close ). Threatened by habitat destruction for agriculture and possibly also by urban development. Major threat is possibility of a road linking the hill stations of Genting Highlands, Fraser’s Hill and Cameron Highlands, which would destroy much montane forest along Main Range. An international studbook and breeding consortium was initiated during 1992 and is co-ordinated by New York Zoological Society/Wildlife Conservation International and Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Peninsular Malaysia; the captive population comprised 111 individuals in Feb 1993.