Natural history

Habitat selection and food habits

As an order, the galliforms inhabit a wide variety of vegetational types, including dense and open forest, open grasslands, scrub and second-growth forest, and flooded riparian (river) forests. Megapodes live in dense jungle, some appearing in the open only to lay eggs on sandy beaches. The mallee fowl (Leipoa ocellata) is an exception, inhabiting the eucalyptus thickets that characterize the arid interior of Australia. The majority of galliforms roost on elevated perches at night, even those species that spend the daylight hours foraging on the ground. Virtually the only ones that live in treeless regions are certain of the grouse, such as the tundra-inhabiting ptarmigan, the prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido and T. pallidicinctus), the sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), and the sharp-tailed grouse (T. phasianellus). The Eurasian black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) occurs in open country and in forested regions. Most of the true pheasant, including the peafowl, are residents of open forest with clearings. Guinea fowl of the genera Guttera and Agelastes and quail of the New World genus Odontophorus inhabit dense tropical forest. The hoatzin is closely associated with water and is almost never found far from it.

The food of galliforms is varied, most species being basically vegetarian, but they also take large numbers of insects, worms, and other invertebrates. Many use their feet to uncover food in leaf litter. The hoatzin feeds on leaves and fruit, especially those of arums (Araceae), rarely descending to the ground but occasionally entering the water to take small crabs or fish.

Courtship and mating

Gallinaceous birds vary considerably in reproductive behaviour: some exhibit monogamous pair formation with a pair bond lasting through the breeding season, while others show varying types of polygamy, usually with members of both sexes being more or less promiscuous. Many, if not most, quail and partridge are monogamous, as are ptarmigan, guinea fowl, the hoatzin, some pheasant, and those megapodes and cracids that have been studied. Polygamy is known to occur in many grouse, including the North American grassland species, and in peafowl (Pavo) and some other phasianids. In the social displays of the grouse, a number of males assemble in a special assembly area, called a court, dancing ground, arena, or lek. The dancing ground lies outside of all nesting territories, and the same dancing ground is used year after year. Each of the males, which may number up to several dozen, has his own area within the chosen dancing ground. There he struts and postures, producing strange calls (some of which are produced in special esophageal air sacs) to attract the females, who visit the dancing ground to select a male and copulate. Dominant males occupy central positions in the arena group and may copulate with several females. Some species, such as the black grouse and the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), are variable in the degree to which males gather for display purposes, populations in more open areas tending more toward social displays. Males of the North American ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) and those of some phasianids, the peacock pheasant (Polyplectron) and argus pheasant being examples, live in isolation, displaying to and copulating with any receptive female.

Nesting

The large majority of gallinaceous birds nest on the ground, the nest being only a shallow scrape lined with soft grass or leaves. Cracids, the hoatzin, and the horned pheasant (Tragopan) build nests in trees; those of the cracids are relatively small for the size of the birds.

The nesting of megapodes is unique among birds. The eggs of all species are placed in sand or soil, the heat for incubation coming from solar radiation, fermentation of plant matter, or even volcanic steam. Young megapodes, extremely precocious at hatching, dig their way to the surface and forage for themselves. They are fully feathered when hatched and can fly when 24 hours old. The simplest form of nesting, found in the maleo (Macrocephalon maleo), Wallace’s megapode (Eulipoa wallacei), and some individuals of Freycinet’s megapode (Megapodius freycinet, called jungle fowl in Australia), consists of placing each egg in a hole dug in sand to a depth of up to one metre (about one yard) in a site chosen for receiving the appropriate amount of solar radiation. Once laid and buried, the egg receives no further attention from the parents.

Some members of the genus Megapodius (including jungle-dwelling members of M. freycinet) build mounds of decaying vegetation up to 10 metres (33 feet) long and 5 metres (16 feet) high. Mounds built by the brush turkeys (Alectura, Aepypodius, and Talegalla) are smaller, up to about 4 metres (13 feet) in diameter and 1 metre (3 feet) high. The mallee fowl, the most-studied of the megapodes, uses a combination of solar radiation and fermentation to maintain the incubation temperature.

In the mound-building species of megapodes, the male maintains the mound for much of the year. Prior to and during the incubation period, he opens the mound once or twice a day to control the generation, absorption, and radiation of heat. It is generally believed that the bird measures the temperature of the egg chamber when opening the mound. The temperature-sensing organ is not known, but the most likely organ is the tongue. The mound is maintained within a degree or two of 33 °C (91 °F) throughout the period of several months that there are eggs in it. Observations of one species of brush turkey, Alectura lathami, indicate that the frequent opening of the mound may be as important for ventilation as for temperature control.

The eggs of most gallinaceous birds are solidly coloured in white, buff, or olive, but those of species nesting in open areas are usually protectively coloured with blotches of brown or black. There is great variation in the number of eggs laid. Most members of the order are indeterminate layers, the female producing eggs until a certain number has accumulated in the nest. This characteristic has allowed man to exploit galliforms (especially the domestic hen, of course) for egg production. If the domestic hen were a determinate layer, as are members of many other bird orders, each individual would produce her clutch of about a dozen eggs and, regardless of whether or not the eggs were removed, would discontinue laying for at least two months.

The clutch size varies from two to about two dozen, the largest number occurring in megapodes. Partridge, quail, and the smaller pheasant lay from 12 to more than 20 eggs, but the larger pheasant, such as the crested argus (Rheinardia ocellata) and the great argus, normally lay only two eggs. The hoatzin and the cracids lay two or three eggs, three being the rule in the smaller cracids, such as chachalacas. Guinea fowl lay seven to 20 eggs, and turkeys eight to 18.

Incubation is usually performed by the female alone. Males of some New World quail, including the Montezuma quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae), the bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), and other members of the genus Colinus, incubate for short periods. The female of the southern European red partridge (Alectoris rufa) has been reported to lay two clutches, one incubated by the male, the other concurrently by herself. This behaviour, unique among birds, is in need of further investigation.

It is uncertain whether or not the male hoatzin incubates the eggs. Both sexes have been observed in nest building and taking care of the young, so it is possible that the male also assists in incubation.