The Congo Peafowl, Afropavo congensis is the only member of the genus Afropavo. Male is large, up to 70cm long, deep blue with metallic green and violet tinge bird of the Phasianidae family. It has bare red neck skin, grey feet, black tail of fourteen rectrices and adorned with vertical white elongated hair-like feathers on its crown. Female is generally chestnut brown bird with black abdomen, metallic green back and short chestnut brown crest. Both sexes resemble immature Asian Peafowl, with early stuffed birds being erroneously classified as such before they were officially discovered as a species.

Inhabits and endemic to lowland rainforest of Congo River Basin in central Democratic Republic of the Congo. The diet consists mainly of fruits and invertebrates. Male is monogamous, though information from the wild needed.

Very little is known about this species, seeing as it was first recorded as a species in 1936 by Dr. James Chapin based on two stuffed specimens at Congo Museum in Belgium. It has characteristics of both the peafowl and the guineafowl, which may indicate that the Congo Peafowl is a link between the two families.

Due to ongoing habitat lost, small population and hunted in some areas, the Congo Peafowl is evaluated as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

References

• Database entry includes justification for why this species is vulnerable

External links

• ARKive - images and movies of the Congo Peafowl (Afropavo congensis)
• BirdLife Species Factsheet
• gbwf.org - Congo Peafowl (Afropavo congensis)
• IUCN Red List
• Kimball, R.T, Braun, E.L. and J. D. Ligon (1997) Resolution of the phylogenetic position of the Congo peafowl, Afropavo congensis: a biogeographic and evolutionary enigma. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 264:1517-1523
• The Cryptid Zoo: African Peacocks

Peafowls | Wildlife of Africa

Paon du Congo | Congopauw | Afropavo congensis | Kongonriikinkukko