Crestless fireback
| Crestless fireback | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Galliformes |
| Family: | Phasianidae |
| Subfamily: | Phasianinae |
| Genus: | Lophura |
| Species: | L. erythrophthalma |
| Binomial name | |
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Lophura erythrophthalma (Raffles, 1822) |
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The crestless fireback (Lophura erythrophthalma) is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat destruction and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being "vulnerable".
Male crestless firebacks are about 38 cm (15 in) in length and females slightly smaller. The face has bare red skin, the bill is greenish in males and black in females, there is no crest, the legs are bluish-grey, with long spurs in males and short spurs in females. The tail is short and either rounded, or the central feathers are shorter than the outer ones. The male has purplish-black plumage, with white vermiculation on the mantle and back, the wings and the side of the breast. The rump is bright chestnut and the upper tail coverts are purple with maroon margins. The tail feathers are cinnamon with black bases. The female crestless fireback is almost completely black with a blue or green gloss and was for some time considered to be a separate species. The head is brownish, paling to nearly white on the throat. Juveniles resemble females but have pale-edged feathers, and young males develop chestnut rumps quite soon. The female is very similar in appearance to the male Salvadori's pheasant (Lophura inornata) which is endemic to Sumatra, but that species tends to inhabit forests at higher altitudes.
The nominate subspecies L. e. erythrophthalma is found in mainland Malaysia and Sumatra while L. e. pyronota occurs in Borneo. The male of the latter subspecies is a greyer bird, with black and white vermiculations, and steel blue upper tail coverts. The crestless fireback is a shy bird and seldom seen; it inhabits undergrowth in lowland rainforests, and also secondary growth forest in Malaysia, up to altitudes of about 300 m (1,000 ft).
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Wikipedia