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Description

Crested Argus feather (Rheinard's or Ocellated Argus) from Laos. Just as I saw it in Jesús Estudillo's Bird Sanctuary for Endangered Species “La Siberia” or “El Nido”. This amazing feather is more than 5 feet long and one feet wide. It was collected by people from the villages Meo & Miau in the bamboo rainforest, Laos, Indochina.

The Crested Argus, Rheinardia ocellata, is a large (up to 244cm or 8 ft long) and spectacular peafowl with dark-brown-spotted black and buff plumage, a pink bill, brown irises and blue skin around the eyes. The head is small, decorated with white erect crest feathers on the rear crown. The male has a broad and greatly elongated tail of twelve feathers, up to nearly two meters long (for a long time, considered the longest feathers from a wild bird species). The female looks similar, with a shorter crest and tail. The species is the only member in the monotypic genus Rheinardia.

Little is known about this species in the wild. A shy and elusive bird, the Crested Argus is found in forests of Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia in Southeast Asia. The diet consists mainly of, invertebrates,mollusks, amphibians, small reptiles, bamboo shoots, leaves, fruits and fungus.

Like other Peafowl, Crested Argus retire on emergent trees above the forest canopy for many hours a day. They will remain on these trees for days at a time during the wet season. Crested Argus are strong fliers and pairs have been reported flying together.

Dr. Jesus Estudillo Lopez, Veterinary Zootechnician graduated from UNAM.

Dr. Jesus Estudillo Lopez, Veterinary Zootechnician graduated from UNAM, with a master's degree in avian pathology from the University of Ohio, USA, as a fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation. He has made important contributions to the growth of Mexican poultry farming, through the development of vaccines against the main infectious diseases of birds. He is internationally recognized as one of the world's leading ornithologists, for having achieved the reproduction in captivity of numerous endangered species. He has received, among other awards, recognition of merit from the World Wildlife Fund and the United Nations Global 500 award, awarded in 1993 in Beijing, China. He discovered in 1975, in the mountains near the Ixiama River in Bolivia, one of the rarest species of Cracids, the Crax Estudillo. He was a founding member of some Mexican conservation institutions, among which are: Pronatura A.C. and Naturalia A.C.

Description

Crested Argus feather (Rheinard's or Ocellated Argus) from Laos. Just as I saw it in Jesús Estudillo's Bird Sanctuary for Endangered Species “La Siberia” or “El Nido”. This amazing feather is more than 5 feet long and one feet wide. It was collected by people from the villages Meo & Miau in the bamboo rainforest, Laos, Indochina.

The Crested Argus, Rheinardia ocellata, is a large (up to 244cm or 8 ft long) and spectacular peafowl with dark-brown-spotted black and buff plumage, a pink bill, brown irises and blue skin around the eyes. The head is small, decorated with white erect crest feathers on the rear crown. The male has a broad and greatly elongated tail of twelve feathers, up to nearly two meters long (for a long time, considered the longest feathers from a wild bird species). The female looks similar, with a shorter crest and tail. The species is the only member in the monotypic genus Rheinardia.

Little is known about this species in the wild. A shy and elusive bird, the Crested Argus is found in forests of Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia in Southeast Asia. The diet consists mainly of, invertebrates,mollusks, amphibians, small reptiles, bamboo shoots, leaves, fruits and fungus.

Like other Peafowl, Crested Argus retire on emergent trees above the forest canopy for many hours a day. They will remain on these trees for days at a time during the wet season. Crested Argus are strong fliers and pairs have been reported flying together.

Dr. Jesus Estudillo Lopez, Veterinary Zootechnician graduated from UNAM.

Dr. Jesus Estudillo Lopez, Veterinary Zootechnician graduated from UNAM, with a master's degree in avian pathology from the University of Ohio, USA, as a fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation. He has made important contributions to the growth of Mexican poultry farming, through the development of vaccines against the main infectious diseases of birds. He is internationally recognized as one of the world's leading ornithologists, for having achieved the reproduction in captivity of numerous endangered species. He has received, among other awards, recognition of merit from the World Wildlife Fund and the United Nations Global 500 award, awarded in 1993 in Beijing, China. He discovered in 1975, in the mountains near the Ixiama River in Bolivia, one of the rarest species of Cracids, the Crax Estudillo. He was a founding member of some Mexican conservation institutions, among which are: Pronatura A.C. and Naturalia A.C.