Crested Wood Partridge
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[Photo] Crested Wood Partridge Rollulus roulroul in the aviary at Bristol Zoo, Bristol, England. Captive red crested male with two females. Other names for this bird are Roul-roul, Red-crowned Wood Partridge and Green Wood Partridge. The male has the red head-feathers. Photographed by Adrian Pingstone in January 2005 and placed in the public domain.

The Crested Wood Partridge, Rollulus rouloul also known as the Crested Partridge, Roul-roul, Red-crowned Wood Partridge or Green Wood Partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Rollulus.

This small partridge is a resident breeder in lowland rainforests in south Myanmar, south Thailand, Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo. Its nest is a ground scrape lined with leaves, which is concealed under a heap of leaf litter. Five or six white eggs are incubated for 18 days.

Unusual for a galliform species, the young are fed bill-to-bill by both parents instead of pecking from the ground, and although precocial, they roost in the nest while small.

Crested Wood Partridge is a rotund short-tailed bird, 25cm in length, with the male marginally larger than the female. Both sexes have a scarlet patch of bare skin around the eye and red legs without a spur or hind toe.

The male is metallic green above with glossy dark blue underparts and a brownish wing panel. The head is adorned with a tall red crest, a white forehead spot and black frontal bristles. The female has pea green body plumage apart from the brown wing coverts. She has a slate grey head with the bristles but no spot or crest. The bill is all-dark. Young birds are duller versions of the adult of the same sex. The song is a mournful whistled si-ul.

The Crested Wood Partridge is usually seen singly or in pairs as it forages on the ground for fruit, seeds and invertebrates. When disturbed, it prefers to run but if necessary it flies a short distance on its rounded wings.

There is some concern about the effect of habitat destruction on this bird, especially with regard to logging. However, it seems to be somewhat more adaptable than other southeast Asian pheasants. The Crested Wood Partridge is evaluated as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix III of CITES.

Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Subfamily: Rollulinae
Genus: Rollulus
Species: Rollulus rouloul (Scopoli, 1786)

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