Order: Galliformes

Family: Phasianidae

Scientific name: Gallus sonneratii, Temminck, 1813

IUCN Red list status-Least Concern

Did you know?

  1. Grey Junglefowl is an endemic bird of peninsular India.

Description

The Grey Junglefowl male is 70 to 80 cm long and weighs 800 to 1100 grams. The females are smaller and measure 38 cm in length and weigh 700 to 800 grams. The male has red wattles and combs. They have a black cape with ochre spots and the body plumage on a grey body is finely patterned. The elongated sickle tail is black. The neck feathers are dark and end in a small, hard, yellowish plate; Spurs are present in red coloured legs in males. The females have yellow coloured legs and lacks spurs. Males in eclipse plumage moult their colourful neck feathers in summer during or after the breeding season.

Diet

The diet of Grey Junglefowl is insects, small vertebrates, seeds, grass, berries, bamboo seeds etc. They forage in ground similar to domestic fowls. They removes the dry leaves, foliages etc form ground with their legs and pick the prey with bills. The forage time is mainly day and it is done solitarily or in pairs. Sometimes we can see a group of 4-5 birds foraging together.

Habitat

The Grey Junglefowl inhabits in bamboo thickets, evergreen forests, secondary forests, wooded areas with thick ground foliages. In India and it is distributed throughout the country in peninsular region. It is an endemic bird to peninsular India.

Reproductive Behaviour

The breeding season of Grey Junglefowl is from February to May. The nest is a shallow scrape in dense undergrowth lined with dry leaves. Sometimes the nest similar to crow is placed in tree also. Normally 4-7 eggs are laid. The incubation of 21 days is done by the female alone and young ones are cared by both parents.

Call

The call is a loud distinctive “ku-kayak-kyuk-kyuk” and “kaghak-kaghak” sounds.

Related Species and Sub Species

  • Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus).
  • Sri Lankan Junglefowl (Gallus lafayettii).
  • Green Junglefowl (Gallus varius).

Migratory Behaviour

Common Resident