Crested guineafowl

Guineafowl are ground-feeding birds that look like chickens and turkeys. The crested guineafowl have dark blue plumage covered with tiny, white spots. Their name comes from the thick tuft of dark feathers on the crowns, or tops of their heads.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Galliformes

Family: Numididae

Genus: Guttera

Species: Pucherani

Crested guineafowl have large, round, plump bodies covered by dark blue plumage, or feathering. This blue plumage is covered by masses of tiny, white spots. When the birds are sitting in the trees, the spots help break up the outlines of their bodies, making them difficult to see from a distance. This feature provides them with camouflage against predators. Crested guineafowl have either blue or white patches on their plain blue necks. They have bright red eyes on the sides of their small heads and blue-gray faces. On top of their heads, they have long, thick, curly feathers called crests, which give them their name. Adult birds' bodies are around 20 inches (50 centimeters) long from beak to tail. Their 59 to 71 inch (150 to 180 centimeter) wings, move their 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 pound (3/4 to 1 1/2 kilogram) bodies between tree branches and the ground.

These game birds make their homes along the edges of forest clearings and in dense groups of trees or brush. In these habitats, flocks of 20 birds are common. Family groups live within a flock, or a family may live alone. In the morning, the flock forages for seeds, fruit, plant material, small snails, grasshoppers, termites, and beetles. They walk quickly along the ground and may follow monkeys that drop fruit and nuts. Each day, they may walk 6 miles (10 kilometers) looking for food. In their crops, guineafowl keep bits of snail shells to help grind the seeds and nuts. The crop is a sac-like chamber at the end of the birds' gullets, or throats. From their crops, food enters the birds' gizzards, or stomachs. In the dry season, the birds rely on fruits from the trees for moisture or dig up roots and bulbs, which contain moisture.

The flock's members call to each other with deep and melodious noises as they feed. If frightened, they stand upright, stretch out their necks, fan their tail feathers, and trill shrilly before they flutter back to the trees. Their legs are long and powerful for running. This is their only defense against predators except flying away.

As the morning passes and the temperature rises, the guineafowl retreat to the cool shade. They may look for water or a cool spot of ground to take a dust bath. As they spread their feathers and roll in the dirt, they remove fleas and other parasites from their feathers. Parasites are tiny organisms that live on or inside other animals. Some parasites cause sickness or death in their hosts, or the animals on which they live. In the evening, the birds fly back to their tree branches to roost, or sleep, for the night.

The mating season for crested guineafowl depends on where they live. The male attracts a female by bowing and strutting on the ground, and the birds mate for life. The two birds leave the flock and scrape out a shallow nest in the dirt which they line with leaves and grass. The female lays four or five pink eggs that must be incubated for about 23 days. When the young guineafowl are two to three weeks old, they can fly between the ground and roost up to six feet (two meters) above the ground. The male and female return to the flock when their young are fully grown. The average lifespan of all guinea fowl species is 10 to 20 years.

Bibliography

"Crested Guineafowl." Akron Zoo, www.akronzoo.org/birds/crested-guineafowl. Accessed 25 Mar. 2024.

"Crested Guineafowl." Animalia, animalia.bio/crested-guineafowl. Accessed 25 Mar. 2024.