Three subspecies of Red Jungle Fowl are conscientiously labelled ([i]gallus[/i], [i]spadiceus[/i] and [i]jabouillei[/i]). Had very much the feel of one of the keepers' pet projects!
Three subspecies of Red Jungle Fowl are conscientiously labelled (gallus, spadiceus and jabouillei). Had very much the feel of one of the keepers\' pet projects!
I'm not sure if the white patch is a subspecies indicator or just individual variance. I've tried to check up on these labelled subspecies but haven't yet managed to find a good guide to telling the subspecies apart; even HBW Vol. 2 is missing an illustration of spadiceus for comparison (though it does seem to suggest the white is absent in jabouillei, which fits with the zoo's IDs).
Delacour's Pheasants of the World describes all the subspecies. I get the impression that the eastern races have white earlobes & the Indian ones don't; probably a gross oversimplification on my part. A photo I have of some at the [Cornish] Monkey Sanctuary looks just like this bird; big white earlobes and a long low tail.
Looking at the online version of HBW I suspect this may be a hybrid bird, as HBW Alive *does* feature images and descriptions for spadiceus and specifically says they have small, red earlobes, with large white earlobes restricted to the nominate race. The other features of this bird do match spadiceus, however.
