Species Fact Profile: Congo Peafowl (Afropavo congensis)

                                                                      Congo Peafowl

                                                       Afropavo congensis (Chapin, 1936)

Range: Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Habitat:  Lowland Rainforest (Primary or old-growth Secondary), up to 1200 meters elevation.  Often associated with streams, floodplains, closed canopy.

Diet: Fruit, Berries, Terrestrial Invertebrates, Seeds, Ant Eggs

Social Grouping:  Males are territorial, especially during the breeding season, may attack other peacocks after giving a warning call and a display.  Occurs at low densities

Reproduction:  Monogamous.  Breeding takes place in the trees.  Nesting may take place in trees or above the ground.  Breeding season may be determined by rainfall (season seems to be March through November), females may have multiple clutches per year, using the same nest (some birds up to 6 clutches per year).  Each clutch has 2-3 red-yellow unmarked eggs, measuring 5.8-6 x 4.5-5 centimeters.  Incubation is 26-28 days.  Both parents care for chicks (hen incubates while the cock guards).  Chicks are precocial, can walk as soon as they hatch.  Fed by parents, either directly or by placing food in front of chicks, males feed chicks more than females.  Chicks largely independent by about 11 weeks old

Lifespan: 15-20 Years

      Conservation Status: IUCN Near Threatened

• Body length 60-70 centimeters.  Wings 31-33 centimeters long.  Weight approximately 1.1 kilograms.  Males are larger than females, have longer tails
• Sexually dimorphic.  Male has deep blue plumage with metallic green and violet tinges.  Neck skin is bare and red, feet are grey.  Black tail has fourteen tail feathers.  Crown as elongated white tail feathers.  Female is chestnut brown with black abdomen, dark green back, and short chestnut-brown crest.
• Monogamous, for an uncertain period of time (may be the reason that there is much less ornamentation, displaying in this species than in Asian peafowl).  Male displays consist of male facing female, tail feathers raised, curled downwards (fans its actual tail feathers, while Asian peafowl fan the tail coverts).  Alternate raising and lowering wings.  Receptive females fan their own tails, drop their wings, and raise their head
• Primarily terrestrial (also spend some time hiding in low branches), roost in trees at night
• Most vocalizations occur at night, hoarse calls between pairs as a duet.  Also give alarm calls in response to predators, which may be responded to by other species, such as primates.  Chicks may start vocalizing while still within the eggs
• Only member of the genus Afropavo, meaning “African Peacock.”  Species name refers to the Congo.  Also known as the African peafowl or buy its native Bakongo name, mbulu
• Hunted by local peoples both for meat and for feathers, which have been used as ornamentation for headdresses.  Some villagers raise chicks alongside their chickens to eat later
• Threatened by habitat loss for mining, agriculture, and logging.  Populations suffered during military actions in the region from the 1990s onward, including influx of guerilla fighters from Rwanda.  Increase in bushmeat trade, egg poaching during times of conflict (sometimes targeted directly, sometimes caught in snares set for antelope and other species)
• Discovered to western science after American ornithologist James Paul Chapin noticed feathers worn in Congolese headdresses that he could not identified; later saw two stuffed specimens in the Royal Museum of Central Africa (Belgium), misidentified as Indian peafowl.  First specimens secured by Chapin in 1955
• Species was first kept at the Antwerp Zoo.  First seen in North American zoos in small numbers starting in 1966.  First hatch in AZA occurred at the Bronx Zoo in 1981 from birds imported from Antwerp the previous year.  Breeding success has been sporadic.  All birds in AZA owned by Antwerp.  High chick mortality