Galliformes

Gallo de Ceylon, Gallus lafayettii

Galliformes is a clade of neognathous birds with a taxonomic category of order (commonly known as gallinaceae) with 283 species. The group was baptized by the Latin name from the rooster «gallus», and for this reason the name of this order means «those who have the shape of a rooster». Includes chickens, partridges, turkeys, guinea fowl and chachalacas among others. They are mainly terrestrial birds, with strong beaks and legs. They tend to be poor fliers, limiting their flight to short glides and low elevation. They inhabit most of the continents, with the exception of the most arid regions and perpetual ice.

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic relationships based on Hackett et al. (2008).

Taxonomy

According to Clements' classification, the order Galliformes is classified as follows:

• Megapodiidae Family - Megápodos
• Cracidae family - Chachalacas, pavas and turkeys
• Phasianidae Family - Faisanes and Perdices.
  • Subfamily Phasianinae - True Faisanes
  • Subfamily Tetraoninae - Urogallos y Gallo de las praderas
  • Subfamily Meleagridinae - Pavos
  • Subfamily Gallininae - Wild Gallos and Francolines
  • Subfamily Pavoninae - Pavo real and faisanes oselados
• Numidinae Family - Gallina de Guinea
• Odontophoridae Family - New World Codornics

Description

Female (left) and common pheasant male: Sexual dimorphism is conspicuous in this species, one of the most apomorphous hunting birds.

Their appearance is similar to that of chickens, with rounded bodies and blunt wings, and their size varies from 15 cm for small ones to 120 cm for large ones. They are mainly terrestrial birds and their wings are short and rounded for short-distance flying. Galliforms are anisodactylous like passerines, but some of the adult males grow backward-pointing spurs.

Gallinaceous birds are arboreal or terrestrial animals; many prefer not to fly, but walk and run to get around. They live between 5 and 8 years in the wild and up to 30 years in captivity. They can be found all over the world and in a variety of habitats, including forests, deserts, and grasslands. They use visual displays and vocalizations for communication, courtship, fighting, territoriality, and breeding.

They have various mating strategies: some are monogamous, while others are polygynous or polygynous. Courtship behavior of males includes elaborate visual displays of plumage. They breed seasonally depending on the weather, laying three to 16 eggs a year in nests built on the ground or in trees.

Gallins feed on a wide variety of plant and animal material, which may include fruits, seeds, leaves, shoots, flowers, tubers, roots, insects, snails, worms, lizards, snakes, small rodents, and eggs.

These birds range in size from the tiny king quail (Coturnix chinensis), which measures 5 inches and weighs 28-40 grams, to the largest extant galliform species, the North American wild turkey.. (Meleagris gallopavo), which can weigh 14 kg (30.5 lb) and exceed 120 cm (47 in).

The species of galliform bird with the largest wingspan and longest total length (including a tail of more than 1.80 m) is probably the peafowl. (Pavo muticus). Most of the galliform genera are plump-bodied, with thick necks and moderately long legs, with rather short, rounded wings. Grouse, pheasants, francolins and partridges are typical for their stout silhouette.

Adult males of many galliform birds have one to several sharp horny spurs on the back of each leg, which they use for fighting. In various lineages, pronounced sexual dimorphism occurs, and within each clade of galliformes, the more apomorphic ('advanced') lineages tend to be more sexually dimorphic.

Reluctant to fly

While most galliformes are fairly reluctant fliers, truly flightless forms are entirely unknown among living members of the order. Although often mistakenly referred to as weak fliers, Galliforms are actually highly specialized in their particular style of flight, with extremely powerful flight muscles, and some species are even migratory. Adult partridges, however, are flightless. since they need gravity to take off, although the young can fly relatively well.

However, a few birds outside the Corona Galliforme group are flightless.

The genus Sylviornis, a huge prehistoric species from New Caledonia, was flightless, but unlike most other flightless birds, such as little rats or island rails, which become Being flightless due to arrested development of their flight apparatus and later evolving to a larger size, Sylviornis appears to have ceased to fly simply due to their bulk, with wing reduction being a consequence, not reduction. reason for his lack of flight.

Giant Australian dromornithids, which may be closer to Galliformes than Anseriformes as traditionally expected, achieved flightlessness in a more traditional way, by heavily reducing their wings and keel. They were huge herbivorous birds, among the largest avian dinosaurs of all time.

In contrast, the galiform-stalked Scopelortyx appears to have been more aerial than modern birds, with a style of flight more suited to gliding and soaring.

Behavior and ecology

Most galliform birds are more or less resident, but some of the smaller temperate species (such as quail) migrate considerable distances. Altitudinal migration is obviously quite common among montane species, and some species in subtropical and subarctic regions must reach their feeding and/or water areas by sustained flight. Species known to make long flights include polecats, sage grouse (Centrocercus), crested partridge, peafowl, crested argus, mountain peafowl (< i>Polyplectron inopinatum), the koklass pheasant (Pucrasia macrolopha) and, the Reeves's pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii). Other species - most New World quail (also known as toothed quail), the enigmatic stone partridge (Ptilopachus petrosus) from Africa, the guinea fowl and long-eared pheasant ( Crossoptilon) are noted for their daily walking tours that can take many miles in a given day.

Some Galliformes are adapted to grassland habitat, and these genera are noted for their long, slender necks, long legs, and large, broad wings. Some unrelated species, such as the crested, are characterized by having a long neck, long legs, and broad wings. The (Lophura ignita), vulturine banana (Acryllium vulturinum), and Australian pheasant (Leipoa ocellata) are outwardly similar in their types of body (see also convergent evolution).

Most species that show only limited sexual dimorphism are notable for the large amount of locomotion they require to find food during most of the year. Those species that are highly sedentary but with marked ecological transformations throughout the seasons show marked differences between the sexes in terms of size and/or appearance. Eared pheasants, hawks, toothed quail, and ptarmigan (Lerwa lerwa) are examples of limited sex differences and requirements to travel over wide terrain to forage.

Winter ecology

Gallinaceae are well adapted to regions with cold winters. Their larger size, greater plumage, and lower level of activity help them withstand the cold and conserve energy. Under these conditions, they are capable of changing their feeding strategy to that of a ruminant. This allows them to feed on and extract energy and nutrients from coarse, fibrous plant material such as shoots, twigs, and conifer needles. This provides a virtually unlimited source of accessible food and requires little energy to gather.

Food

Guineans feeding.

The herbivorous to slightly omnivorous galliformes, which make up the majority of the group, are typically stocky in build and have short, stout bills adapted primarily for foraging on the ground for rootlets or consuming other plant material such as tree shoots. Pine tree. Young birds also feed on insects.

Forest birds and most subtropical pheasant genera have very different nutritional needs than typical palearctic genera. The Himalayan monal (Lophophorus impejanus) has been observed digging into the decaying wood of fallen trees in a manner similar to woodpeckers to extract invertebrates, even supporting itself with the aid of its square tail. The pheasant of joy (Catreus wallichi), the crested herringbone (Rheinardia ocellata), the rul rul partridge (Rollulus roulroul) and the banana crested (Guttera pucherani) are ecologically similar to the Himalayan monal in that they also search rotten wood for termite larvae, ants and beetles, molluscs, crustaceans, and young rodents.

Typical peafowl (Pavo), most peafowls (Polyplectron), Bulwer's pheasant (Lophura bulweri), Collared Pheasants (Chrysolophus) and Mountain Partridges (Arborophila) have narrow and relatively delicate bills, unsuitable for digging. These galliform genera prefer to take live invertebrates in leaf litter, sand, or shallow puddles or stream banks. These genera are also outwardly similar in that each has exceptionally long and delicate feet and toes and a tendency to frequent seasonally wet habitats to forage, especially during nestlings. The blue turkey (Pavo cristatus) is famous in its native India for its appetite for snakes, including venomous cobras, which it dispatches with its strong legs and sharp beak.. Lady Amherst's pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae), peafowl (Pavo muticus), Bulwer's pheasant and Black-winged pheasant (Lophura erythrophthalma) are notable for their ability to forage for crustaceans such as crayfish and other small aquatic animals in shallow streams and among reeds, much like some members of the rail family (Rallidae). Similarly, although wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) have a mainly vegetable diet, they eat insects, mice, lizards and amphibians, wading through the water to hunt the latter. The domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) shares this opportunistic behavior and eats insects, mice, worms and amphibians.

During the time of jealousy, the male of the western urogal is mainly fed with cranberry leaves, which is toxic to most herbivores.

Tragopans, mikado pheasant, and several species of capercaillie and partridge are exceptional in their foraging habitats, mostly vegetarian and arboreal; The capercaillie stands out especially for being able to feed on plants rich in terpenes and quinones —such as mugwort or conifers—, which are usually avoided by other herbivores. Many moderate-altitude species—for example, the long-tailed pheasants of the genus Syrmaticus—also find much of their daily nutritional needs in the treetops, especially during periods of snow and rain, when searching for food on the ground is dangerous and unfruitful for various reasons. Although members of the genus Syrmaticus are capable of subsisting almost entirely on plant materials for months, this is not the case for many of the subtropical genera. For example, the great argus and crested argus may do most of their foraging during the rainy months in the rainforest canopy, too. There they are known to feed on slugs, snails, ants, and amphibians, excluding plant material. It is unknown how they forage in the forest canopy during the rainy months.

Playback

Most galliformes are very prolific, with clutches regularly exceeding 10 eggs in many species. Unlike most birds that are - at least during a particular breeding season - monogamous, galliformes are often polygynous or polygamous. These species are recognized by their marked sexual dimorphism.

Galliform young are very precocious, wandering with their mothers - or with both parents in monogamous species - just a few hours after hatching. The most extreme case is the Megapodiidae, in which the adults do not brood, but instead incubate in mounds of decaying vegetation, volcanic ash, or hot sand. Young must burrow out of nest mounds after hatching, but hatch fully feathered and, upon leaving the mound, are capable of flying considerable distances.