Red Junglefowl

The Red Junglefowl is the wild species from which domestic chickens arose. Males have a red comb and wattles, golden-orange neck hackles, dark underparts and long metallic-green sickle-shaped tail feathers. Females are much less conspicuous, with finely patterned brown plumage that conceals them while nesting. Wild birds are generally smaller and more lightly built than most domestic chickens and have strong legs for ground foraging (Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Wildlife Institute of India).

Red Junglefowl inhabit tropical forest, scrub and edges across South and Southeast Asia. Adults eat mainly plant material, including seeds, fallen fruit and shoots, but also take arthropods and other small animals. Females lay roughly four to seven eggs and incubate them for 20–21 days; the precocial chicks leave the nest soon after hatching. Japanese records lie outside the species' principal native distribution (Animal Diversity Web; Wildlife Institute of India).