The Malayan peacock-pheasant also known as crested peacock-pheasant or Malaysian peacock-pheasant, is a medium-sized pheasant of the galliform family Phasianidae. The closely related Bornean peacock-pheasant was formerly included here as a subspecies, but as understood today, P. malacense is monotypic.
Region
Malay Peninsula
Typical Environment
Occurs in primary and older secondary lowland dipterocarp rainforests, especially with dense understory and rich leaf-litter. It favors quiet interior forest and often stays close to streams and damp gullies. The species is largely restricted to Peninsular Malaysia, with historical records from extreme southern Thailand. It avoids open habitats and heavily disturbed forest.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 900 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
Also called the crested or Malaysian peacock-pheasant, this elusive forest bird is renowned for the male’s shimmering eye-spotted tail and elaborate courtship displays. The Bornean peacock-pheasant was once treated as a subspecies, but P. malacense is now considered monotypic. It depends heavily on intact lowland rainforest and is highly sensitive to habitat fragmentation and trapping.
Head of adult male
Adult male's mantle feathers with their eyespots and "salt-and-pepper" pattern
Temperament
shy and secretive
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats; reluctant to fly
Social Behavior
Usually encountered as solitary birds or in pairs, with pairs maintaining small territories on the forest floor. Courtship involves the male fanning the tail to display the ocelli, bowing, and circling the female. Nests are on or near the ground, with both parents tending the chick.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations include soft, mournful whistles and low hoots given from concealed perches. Males also produce a sudden wing-whirr or drumming sound during displays, especially at dawn.
Plumage
Dark brown, finely vermiculated upperparts with numerous iridescent blue-green eye-spots; male with elongated, bushy crest and richly ocellated tail. Underparts are dusky with subtle barring; feathers have a satin-like sheen in good light.
Diet
Forages mainly for invertebrates such as ants, termites, beetles, and small snails, supplemented by fallen fruit, seeds, and tender shoots. It scratches through leaf-litter methodically and picks prey from the ground. Opportunistically takes small vertebrates and invertebrate larvae when available.
Preferred Environment
Feeds on the dim forest floor in dense understory, along trails, stream margins, and at the bases of buttressed trees. Prefers quiet, undisturbed tracts of primary forest but may use older secondary growth if cover is sufficient.
