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Volume 3 No. 6, 1024-1026, June 2000 Food and Feeding Habits of Red Junglefowl Muhammad Arshad, Mohamed Zakaria1, Ahmad S. Sajap2, Ahmad Ismail3, Punjab Wildlife Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan 1Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 2Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 3Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Environmental Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Abstract: The study on food and feeding habits of Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus spadiceus) was conducted in three agriculture areas (orchard, rubber and oil palm plantation) by direct observation and crop contents analyses in Selangor, Malaysia. Red Junglefowl moved continuously in search of food and preferred by scratching the litter. It would feed in open areas early in the morning and evening. The rest of the day it would feed in shaded areas especially under trees. Red Junglefowl eats a variety of animals and plants. It prefers to eat the pericarp of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) fruit, Iskandar palm (Archontophoenix alexandrae), Chiku (Achras sapota), Papaya (Carica papaya), Cempedak (Artocarpus integer), rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) nuts, and seeds of Macaranga sp. Analyses of crops content shows that among the animals, Dermaptera, Hymenoptera, Isoptera, Orthoptera, Coleoptera, Crustacea (Isopoda), leeches and snails were the predominant food. It also ate snails, eggshells, bones and snakes. The male Red Junglefowl consumed oil palm fruit more than did the female whereas the female consumed invertebrates and vertebrates more than did the male. G.P.O. Box 8, 433, St. 5, Sarfraz Colony, Fowara Chowk, Faisalabad-38090, Pakistan Phone: 92 41 731433; International FAX 1-805-753-7561 E-mail: editor@pjbs.org |