Siamese fireback

Siamese fireback
Siamese fireback in wild
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Subfamily: Phasianinae
Genus: Lophura
Species: L. diardi
Binomial name
Lophura diardi
(Bonaparte, 1856)

The Siamese fireback (Lophura diardi) also known as Diard's fireback is a fairly large, approximately 80 cm long, pheasant. The male has a grey plumage with an extensive red facial skin, crimson legs and feet, ornamental black crest feathers, reddish brown iris and long curved blackish tail. The female is a brown bird with blackish wing and tail feathers.

Head
Lophura diardi

The Siamese fireback is distributed to the lowland and evergreen forests of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam in Southeast Asia. This species is also designated as the national bird of Thailand. The female usually lays between four and eight rosy eggs.

The scientific name commemorates the French naturalist Pierre-Médard Diard.

Status

Due to habitat loss and over-hunting in some areas, the Siamese fireback was evaluated as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, however, it is now Least Concern, because the populations declines were probably overestimated a lot.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2012). "Lophura diardi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
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