Field ID: Galliformes

 

Galliformes is a taxonomic order containing birds commonly called landfowl or upland gamebirds. These include pheasants, grouse, quail, and many other groups. The domestic chicken, one of the most numerous vertebrates on the planet, is the most familiar example. Gallinaceous birds, or galliforms, are generally large, heavy-bodied birds that spend the majority of their time on the ground. They are usually sexually dimorphic with larger males and smaller females and males often exhibit extreme mating displays. They mostly forage on or near the ground, and have varied diets, though often comprised of seed and plant matter or invertebrates. They can be found in a wide array of ecosystems and are found on every continent except Antarctica. On Novasola, nine species can be found in the wild (four grouse, three pheasants, one quail, and one turkey-pheasant) and all of them are endemic.  

Galliforms are popular as gamebirds, especially by European cultures, and as such they have been introduced specifically to be hunted in many parts of the world. This has resulted in countless examples of non-native galliform species establishing wild populations in completely disconnected places. For example, Ring-necked Pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) and Chukar (Alectoris chukar) range widely across northern and western North America, despite evolving natively in Asia, while populations of Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), native to North America, can be found in Central Europe. Interestingly, Novasola was mostly spared this treatment. While three species have been introduced as game birds to other parts of the world and another can be found on farms outside the state, no non-native galliforms have been released into Novasolan wilderness. A few species like Chicken, Wild Turkey, Indian Peafowl, and Guineafowl can be found as domestic animals on local farms, none have established feral populations. This can partly be attributed to the large quantity of native fowl on the island, both in diversity and sheer numbers. European settlers may never have seen a need to introduce exotic gamebirds because there were more than enough native fowl to hunt. Another factor could be the timing and drivers of settlement for the island. Novasola was not much of a desirable territory to settle until the gold rushes of the late 1800s, and most settlers were too poor to import animals or to own land on which to do so. Whatever the reason, Novasola’s galliform populations are compositionally no different than in pre-settlement times. This does not mean that bird populations have gone completely unaffected, though. Hunting pressure on native birds, introduction of non-native predators like cats and dogs, and habitat loss from development and land use change have drastically altered the island’s ecosystems and affected endemic galliforms in many ways. While some species have seen significant population declines and range reductions, others have actually expanded.    

Galliforms can be difficult to tell apart, especially females who in almost all cases are similarly marked with extremely effective camouflage. Males can be easier to distinguish based on their plumage, especially in the pheasants, but are made even easier in the breeding season by their striking and characteristic courtship displays or vocalizations. In any case, the best ways to distinguish them are using other clues like size, habitat, and behaviors. Collectively, the ranges for all nine species cover the entirety of Novasola, and knowing each species is important to understanding the island’s ecology. A quick guide to the endemic species therefore may be useful for identification purposes and to highlight interesting species or family traits. Below is an overview of all galliform species endemic to Novasola to go along with the above picture of males of each species. Click on the name of each species to be taken to that species’ full entry.

 

1.      Novasola Turkey-pheasant

·        Field Marks – Largest galliform, 90-100 cm long, about the size of a turkey. Dark brown and mottled overall with bright gold rump and long legs. Males have blue facial skin, a brightly colored knob above the bill, pointed central tail feathers, and a blue, inflatable sac on the breast. Males also have long spurs on legs. Females similar but head is more heavily feathered and lack air sac and spurs.

·        Voice – Males make loud crowing and gobbling, as well as deep booming growls and drumming from beating their wings against the air sac. Both sexes mumble, purr, and cackle.

·        Habitat – Prefers open woodlands, oak savannah, and forest edges, and will also use denser deciduous and mixed deciduous-pine forests, agricultural fields, scrubland, and, infrequently, wetlands. Avoids altitudes higher than 6,000 feet.

·        Range – Range extends across Novasola, but they are more common farther east and south forests, less common in northwestern forests. Absent on Kosatka and Francis Islands. Populations have been introduced in parts of the mainland US, Europe, and Australia.

·        Behaviors – Diet consists of plant matter like seeds, nuts, fruit, tubers, buds, leaves, and grasses, as well as small invertebrates, eggs, and small vertebrates. Social, usually found in nomadic flocks. Males form large harems of females during the breeding season that they defend from other males. Males display during courtship by inflating their air sacs, spreading their tails into a wide fan, and beating their wings against the air sac to produce booming sounds.

·        Notes – One of the largest birds on Novasola. Popular for hunting, they are even raised on game farms and stocked in many parts of the island. Their range has expanded since white settlement, unlike most endemics.  

 

2.      Sapphire-breasted Pheasant

·        Field Marks – Large and long-tailed, up to 120 cm long. Males have brilliant and shiny blue necks and breast with reddish back and orange spotted belly. Tail long, pointed, and barred black and orange-brown. Base of tail covered by pale, striped draping train. Males have bright red wattles on face that stick up and forward like horns, as well as spurs on legs. Females are drastically different, browning overall and covered in dense barring and mottling with no wattles, no spurs, and a shorter tail. Both sexes have a single white bar across the back.

·        Voice – Males crow like a rooster and make drumming and rattling sounds with their feathers. Both sexes give three-note alarm calls. Voice is raspier than Scaled Pheasant. 

·        Habitat – Found in most western forest types, including temperate rainforest, subalpine, lowland, conifer and mixed conifer-deciduous forests, but prefers more open or sparse woods, forest edges, meadows, clear-cuts and wetlands. Typically avoids altitudes higher than 7,000 feet.

·        Range – Found across Novasola west of the Paramount divide, though uncommon throughout range. Introduced to mainland US, Europe, and Australia.

·        Behaviors – Relatively secretive and quiet, except males during breeding. Not very social outside of breeding season harems. Diet consists of plant matter like seeds, nuts, fruit, leaves, and grasses, as well as small invertebrates, eggs, and amphibians.

·        Notes – It was once considered a subspecies of the Scaled Pheasant, but separated by differences in habitat and range. It is one of the most popular game birds on Novasola. It is also one of the few endemic birds to increase in population and expand in range since white settlement.  

 

3.      Scaled Pheasant

·        Field Marks – Large and long-tailed, up to 120 cm long. Males have brilliant and shiny blue necks with brown backs and white, scaly-looking breasts and undersides. Tail long, pointed, and barred black and light-brown. Base of tail covered by white draping train, with long, distinct gray feathers with colored eyespots draping on the sides from the rump. Males have bright red wattles on face that extend backwards along the sides of the neck, as well as spurs on legs. Females are drastically different, light brown overall and covered in dense barring and mottling with no wattles, no spurs, and a shorter tail. Both sexes have two white bars across the back.

·        Voice – Males crow like a rooster and make drumming and rattling sounds with their feathers. Both sexes give three-note alarm calls. Voice is clearer and simpler than Sapphire-breasted Pheasant. 

·        Habitat – Prefers more open ecosystems like open prairie or grassland, scrubland, chaparral, oak savannah, and forest edges, and will also use deciduous and mixed forests, agricultural fields, and, infrequently, wetlands. Typically avoids altitudes higher than 6,000 feet.

·        Range – Found across Novasola east of the Paramount divide, though relatively uncommon throughout range. Introduced widely to mainland US, Europe, and Australia.

·        Behaviors – Relatively secretive and quiet, except males during breeding, and not very social. Males form harems of females during breeding season which they defend from other males. Diet consists of plant matter like seeds, nuts, fruit, leaves, and grasses, as well as small invertebrates, eggs, and amphibians.

·        Notes – Most popular game bird on Novasola and widely sought by hunters for meat and trophies. Widely introduced to other continents, this is one of the widest ranging endemic birds outside the state. Separated from the similar Sapphire-breasted Pheasant by range and habitat.

 

4.      Kosatka Pheasant

·        Field Marks – Medium-sized, slender galliform with relatively short neck, compact body, and long legs. Males up to 85 cm long. Males are black with dense white spotting, a long and bushy gray tail, and a shiny and iridescent coppery bronze back. Males have bright red-orange legs, bill, skin around throat and eyes, and a prominent knob on the crown extending from the bill. Females are dark brown with tan skin and they lack the green back and bill knob. In place of a long bushy tail they have a shorter brown tail they often hold erect like a chicken’s. Both sexes have prominent leg spurs.   

·        Voice – Males crow extremely loudly during breeding season. Both sexes give alarm cries. Otherwise mostly silent.

·        Habitat – They prefer forests with dense understory foliage, especially old-growth forests, but may be found in younger stands or disturbed sites so long as the understory is thick. Can be found up to the tree line uncommonly but prefer lower elevations and less steep terrain.

·        Range – Found exclusively on and across Kosatka Island.

·        Behaviors – Their varied diet includes seeds, leaves, and invertebrates, including banana slugs, making them one of only two birds regularly observed eating banana slugs. Solitary and secretive, rarely seen in groups. Breeding males will attract females by crowing loudly and strutting while prominently displaying his back and tail.

·        Notes – One of three galliforms on Kosatka Island, the only one endemic to Kosatka itself. Extremely rare, they are critically endangered with an estimated 300 individuals left in the wild, though populations have increased in recent years. These birds are particularly significant culturally to Kosatka Island indigenous groups.

 

5.      Spotted Grouse

·        Field Marks – Large, chicken-like galliform, up to 70 cm long. Plump body, long, squared tail, and feathered legs. Dark brown overall with intense white spotting in wings and undersides. Males have blue-black head and breast with prominent bright-red fleshy combs over the eyes and dense white spotting in the nape. Tail is tipped with a pale bar. Females noticeably smaller, more heavily patterned, especially in the back and tail, and lack eye combs.

·        Voice – Males call with a four-note hoot followed by a rising bubbly phrase. Both sexes call softly with clucks and screech in alarm.

·        Habitat – They prefer mature forests with dense understory foliage and thick canopy like temperate rainforests, coastal conifer forests, lowland deciduous, and montane conifer forests, with affinities for Coopers-fir, spruce, hemlocks, firs, cedars, pines, and redwoods. Can be found at high elevations, up to the tree line, and as low as sea level.

·        Range – Found in most of Novasola except the interior prairie and the Francis Islands.

·        Behaviors – Lekking species. During breeding, males congregate at leks and display for females by spreading their tail fan and wings and lowing their outstretched head to the ground while hooting and cooing. Females choose which males to mate with before leaving to nest. While still ground birds, they spend more time in trees than other galliforms. Diet is entirely plant matter, including fruits, buds, cones, needles, leaves, shoots, twigs, and seeds.

·        Notes – Largest grouse species. Relatively unpopular as a game bird, because they are difficult to hunt and have a poor taste.

 

6.      Dolleye Grouse

·        Field Marks – Medium-sized galliform with short feathered legs, short tail, and small head. Up to 60 cm long. Sandy brown overall with intricate markings and strong barring in the wings. Males have orangish tails and long, white plumes that extend outwards from the eyes. They can erect these feathers in a circle around the eye, covering most of the head. Less sexually dimorphic than other grouse, females look similar but lack orange color and eye plumes.  

·        Voice – Males bark and cluck often. Both sexes occasionally cluck for contact and emit high-pitched screeching when taking flight.

·        Habitat – They prefer arid and open, treeless habitat like shrubland, grassland, and chaparral, but can be found in sparse woodland or savannah.

·        Range – Found in the interior prairie, Fairweather Sound, and East Francis Island. Once also found in the Twin Rivers, but extirpated.

·        Behaviors – Lekking species. During breeding, males congregate at leks and display by puffing their tails and necks, erecting their eye disks to encircle their eyes, and strutting back and forth and barking. Leks range widely in size but can number hundreds of individuals. They prefer to be hidden in dense or tall cover except when lekking. Diet includes buds, seeds, grasses, forbs, and insects. More migratory than other galliforms, they travel between distinct breeding and wintering grounds.

·        Notes – Second-most common grouse but facing the steepest population declines. Numbers have crashed in many places due to human disturbance and habitat loss. They are incredibly significant for Yukandaluk culture and are heavily featured in their spiritual beliefs and practices. Yukandaluk ceremonial dances and costumes mimic the courtship display of the Dolleye.

 

7.      Cowled Grouse

·        Field Marks – Small grouse with large neck, short feathered legs, and short tail. 45-50 cm long. Brown overall with extensive and intricate light and dark markings, underparts lighter with heavy white and dark barring. Males have yellow, fleshy combs over the eyes and long feather plumes on the back of the head that drape over the neck in a “cowl” when not erect. Females are paler and lack eye combs and cowl. Only grouse with dark-tipped undertail coverts.

·        Voice – Males emit a high-pitched crow. Both sexes emit high-pitched pit-pit-pit-pit calls when alarmed, and wingbeats make loud whistling noises like doves.

·        Habitat – They prefer early-successional forests, mixed conifer-deciduous forests, aspen, birch or alder forests, and oak woodlands. Also found in logged forests, riparian areas, agricultural areas like orchards and plantations, and developed rural-suburban areas. More associated with broadleaf forests than other galliforms.

·        Range – Found throughout Novasola, but most commonly in the south and east, far less common in the western range, Chidkayook basin, Paramounts, and prairie. They are absent from Kosatka Island and extirpated from the Francis Islands.

·        Behaviors – Solitary, silent, and usually under dense cover, this species can be difficult to observe away from developed areas. Diet is mostly plant matter including seeds, fruit, leaves, buds, twigs, and invertebrates. During breeding males will erect their tails and puff out their necks, extending their cowl feathers out to the sides, and sway in front of females.

·        Notes – Most common grouse. One of few species with population growth since white settlement thanks to logging and clear cutting. Frequently hunted. Can be found in rural and suburban green spaces because they are less wary of disturbance than other grouse.  

 

8.      Novasola Ptarmigan

·        Field Marks – Small, compact galliform, up to 35 cm long. Roughly the size of a large pigeon. Only galliform to have two distinct seasonal plumages. In breeding season males are boldly patterned in extreme camouflage with a darker head, white eyeline, and red, fleshy combs above the eyes. Females lighter and lack combs. In winter, both sexes are all white except black tail feathers and red combs. Feathers cover entire feet including toes.

·        Voice – Males emit guttural clucks and duck-like quacks. Common calls include soft quacks, chucks, and mechanic barking when alarmed. Often described as sounding like “a mechanical wind-up toy mixed with a rubber ducky”.

·        Habitat – They are alpine specialists and prefer areas at or above the tree line, including alpine tundra, heath, barren or rocky slopes, and other cold, sparsely-vegetated areas. Less common in thickets of alpine shrubs or trees like willow, aspen, alder, fir, or pine, especially in winter. They may be found at lower elevations during winter but are almost never found below the tree line in the warmer months. 

·        Range – Found only in high-elevation regions of the Paramount and Morning mountain ranges, as well as a small, distinct population found at high elevations on Kosatka Island.

·        Behaviors – Extremely cold-hearty, able to roost in and burrow through snow. Often sit motionless for long periods, even in snowstorms. Within a season are sedentary and have very small home ranges, but will migrate between seasons. Males are extremely territorial and will defend against almost anything, including large animals and even vehicles. Mostly solitary during the breeding season, but social and often in flocks during the winter.

·        Notes – Smallest grouse species and second-smallest galliform. One of the least observed and least-studied galliforms, second to the Kosatka Pheasant, because of range and habitat requirements.  

 

9.      Regal Quail

·        Field Marks – Small, plump bird, up to 28 cm long, roughly the size of a small dove. Grayish brown overall with reddish back, white marks on face, white, scaly undersides with long feathers draping over the sides, and an obvious crest. Males have longer, brighter crest plumes and red throat, while females have white throat and reduced plumes.

·        Voice – Very vocal. Main call is a high-pitched, descending “cow-ow”, lasting about 2 seconds. Also emit constant chip calls and various clucks. Birds will use sharp pit-pit-pit-pit calls when alarmed, and wingbeats are loud when taking off.

·        Habitat – They prefer arid and open areas including grassland, shrubland, chaparral, and savannah, but may use more wooded areas like forests, especially when meadows, fire scars, or breaks in the canopy are common. Also found in burned areas, clear cuts and other logging areas, as well as pastures, orchards, crop fields, and other agricultural or rural areas. They are also common in heavily developed areas like suburban or even urban neighborhoods, parks, and other green spaces.

·        Range – Found in most of Novasola except northwest and Kosatka Island. Less common in Western Range, Tower Peninsula, and Morning Mountain highlands.

·        Behaviors – Very social, usually in medium- to large-sized flocks. Often raises chicks in communal broods with the flock. Diet includes seeds, leaves, buds, fruit, and invertebrates.

·        Notes – Smallest galliform. Alos the most common galliform in its range and most commonly observed given its ability to live in developed areas. They are frequently hunted and are also bred and raised as farm animals.