The Congo Peafowl by Ken _Gilliland

Poser • Animals • posted on Jul 23, 2019

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Description

When people think of peacocks, a picture of the huge wispy fan display of a hundred eyes comes to mind. Few (except for bird nerds like me) know that there are actually three different species of peafowl in the world and while two of them do have those spectacular displays, the third type looks much more like a grouse or guinea-fowl. The Congo Peafowl as one might expect is endemic to the Congo Basin. It occurs in both primary and secondary forest in Salonga National Park. It is classified as a "Vulnerable" species with its wild population estimated between 2,500 and 9,000 adult individuals. It is threatened by habitat loss caused by mining, shifting cultivation and logging. It primarily eats fruits and insects. As with all peafowl, it is sexually dimorphic (meaning that males and females look significantly different). It has physical characteristics of both the peafowl and the guineafowl, which may indicate that the Congo peacock is a link between the two families. Both sexes of this peafowl somewhat resemble immature Javan peafowl; so much so that early stuffed birds being erroneously classified as such before they were officially designated as members of a unique species. This is the national bird of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rendered in Firefly without any postwork. Models include my Kiwi Burrow and Peafowl of the World.