Gallinaceous birds

Gallinaceous birds are heavy-bodied ground-feeding domestic or game birds, including grouse, ptarmigans, turkeys, pheasants, quail, partridges, fowl, chachalacas, and curassows – all in the order Galliformes. This order contains four families: family Tetraonidae (including grouse and ptarmigan), family Meleagrididae (including turkeys), family Phasianidae (including quail, partridges, and pheasants), and the family Cracidae (including chachalacas). They are important as seed dispersers and predators in the ecosystems they inhabit and are often reared as game birds by humans for meat and egg consumption and for recreational hunting. All are skilled runners that can fly only a few hundred feet when escaping danger. Males of most species are more colorful than the females. Males often have elaborate courtship behaviors that include strutting, fluffing of tail or head feathers, and vocal sounds. They are mainly non-migratory birds well adapted to the winter climate.

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
phylum: Chordata
subphylum: Vertebrata
class: Aves
order: Galliformes70 genera 250+ species

Appearance

They are chicken-like in appearance, with rounded bodies and blunt wings, and range in size from small (6 inches) to large (4 feet). They are mainly terrestrial birds and their wings are short and rounded for short distanced flights.

Lifestyle

Gallinaceous birds are arboreal or terrestrial animals; most do not fly, but walk and run instead for transportation. They live from 5-8 years in the wild and up to 30 years in captivity. They can be found worldwide and in a variety of habitats, including forests, deserts, and meadows. They use visual displays and vocalizations for communication, courtship, fighting, territoriality, and brooding.

They have diverse mating strategies: some are monogamous, while others are polygamous or polygynandrous (that is, when multiple males have a relationship with multiple females) link. Male courtship behavior includes elaborate visual displays of plumage. They breed seasonally in accordance with the climate and lay anywhere from 3-16 eggs per year in nests built on the ground or in trees.

Gallinaceous birds feed on a 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.

Winter Ecology

Gallinaceous birds are well adapted to regions with cold winters. Their larger size, increased plumage, and lower activity levels help them to withstand the cold temperatures and conserve energy. Under such conditions, they are able to change 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 buds, twigs, and conifer needles. This provides a virtually unlimited source of accessible food and requires little energy to harvest. Additionally gallinaceous birds roost beneath the snow and create a thermal microclimate that conserves heat.

Grouse and Ptarmigans"Family Tetraonidae"

Grouse, ptarmigans, and prairie chickens are all chicken-like birds with short, curved, strong bills part of the family Tetraonidae. This group includes 25 species residing mostly in North America. They are mainly ground-dwellers and have short, rounded wings for brief flights. They are well adapted to winter by growing feather “snowshoes” on their feet and roosting beneath the snow. They range in size from the 13-inch White-tailed Ptarmigan to the 28-inch Sage Grouse. Their plumage is dense and soft and is most commonly found in shades of red, brown, and gray in order to camouflage to the ground. They are polygamous and male courtship behavior includes strutting and dancing and aggressive fighting for possession of females. The typical clutch size is between 7 and 12 eggs.

Turkeys"Family Meleagrididae"

Turkeys are large, long-legged birds that can grow up to four feet in height and weigh up to 20 lbs. They have a long broad, rounded tail with 14-19 blunt feathers. They have a naked wrinkled head and feathered body. Their plumage comes in different shades of red and their feathers are well defined with broad, square ends, giving the bird the appearance of being covered in scales. Males have a “beard” of coarse black bristles hanging from the center of their upper breast and tend to have more vibrantly colored plumage than do females. Their typical clutch size is between 10 and 12 eggs. There are two species of turkeys: the common or wild turkey, and the ocellated turkey. They reside mainly in North America and Mexico. After the 19th and early 20th century wild turkey populations dropped significantly because of hunting and habitat loss. However, populations have returned again thanks to hunting management and transplanting.

Pheasants, Quail, and Partridges"Family Phasianidae"

The family is divided into four groups: 30 species of new world quail, residing between Paraguay and Canada, 11 species of old world quails in Africa, Australia, and Asia, 94 species of partridges, and 48 species of pheasants. This family includes a wide range of bird sizes from a 5 ½-inch quail to pheasants up to almost 30 inches. Pheasants and quails have heavy, round bodies and rounded wings. Even though they have short legs, they are very fast runners when escaping predators.

Chachalacas"Family Cracidae"

Chachalacas are found in the chaparral ecosystems from southern Texas through Mexico and Costa Rica. They are mainly arboreal and make their nests in trees five to fifteen feet above the ground. They are large, long-legged, birds that can grow up to 26 inches long. They have long-tails and are chicken-like in appearance. Their frail looking yet sturdy nests are made out of sticks and leaves. Their clutch size is 3 or 4 eggs. The males make a unique, loud, mating call that given them their name: “cha-cha-la-ca”. Chachalacas feed mainly on berries but also eat insects. They are a popular game bird as their flesh is good to eat. They are also commonly domesticated as pets.

References

Bent, Arthur C. 1963. Life Histories of North American Gallinaceous Birds, New York: Dover Publications, Inc.Eaton, Stephen W. 1992. The Birds of North America: Wild Turkey No. 22. The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington DC: The American Ornithologists’ Union.Forbush, Edward H. 1929. Birds of Massachusettes and Other New England States, Norwood Massachusetts: Norwood press.Harrison, Kit and George. 1990. The Birds of Winter, New York: Random House.Pearson, T. Gilbert, et al. 1936. Birds of America, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc. Peterson, M.J. 2000. The Birds of North America: Plain Chachalaca (Ortalis vetula), No. 550. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.Robbins, Chandler S. et al. 1966. A Guide to Field Identification: Birds of North America, New York: Golden Press.