Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies
Phasianidae
Phasianidae is a family of heavy-bodied, ground-living birds that includes junglefowls, pheasants, grouse, partridges, turkeys, Old World quail and peafowl, with 185 extant species divided into 54 genera. It was formerly broken up into two subfamilies, the Phasianinae and the Perdicinae, but this arrangement is now known to be paraphyletic and polyphyletic, respectively, and more recent evidence supports breaking it up into two subfamilies: Rollulinae and Phasianinae, with the latter containing two clades with multiple tribes. The New World quail (Odontophoridae) and guineafowl (Numididae) were formerly included in this family, but are now typically placed in families of their own; conversely, grouse and turkeys, formerly often treated as distinct families (Tetraonidae and Meleagrididae, respectively), are now known to be deeply nested within Phasianidae, so they are now included in the present family.
Phasianids include many of the most popular upland game birds. Domesticated red junglefowl (Gallus gallus domesticus) — commonly known as the chicken — is the most widespread poultry and the most abundant bird subspecies in the world, with global population exceeding 26.5 billion under husbandry by humans as of 2023.
60 branches of this family, most-observed first · about 186 known species
Turkeys
genusMeleagris
Junglefowl
genusGallus
Typical Pheasants
genusPhasianus
Peafowl
genusPavo
Bonasa
genusBonasa
Rock Partridges
genusAlectoris
Ptarmigans
genusLagopus
African Spurfowl
genusPternistis
Perdix Partridges
genusPerdix
Blue Grouse
genusDendragapus
Black Grouses
genusLyrurus
Canachites
genusCanachites
Gallopheasants
genusLophura
Striated Francolins
genusOrtygornis
Typical Old World Quails
genusCoturnix
Hazel and Chinese Grouse
genusTetrastes
Prairie-Chickens and Sharp-tailed Grouse
genusTympanuchus
Capercaillies
genusTetrao
Bamboo Partridges
genusBambusicola
Ruffed Pheasants
genusChrysolophus
Blue and Brown Quails
genusSynoicus
Sage-Grouse
genusCentrocercus
Long-tailed Pheasants
genusSyrmaticus
Hill-Partridges
genusArborophila
Pale-throated Francolins
genusScleroptila
Spotted Francolins
genusFrancolinus
Asian Spurfowl
genusGalloperdix
Peacock-Pheasants
genusPolyplectron
Snowcocks
genusTetraogallus
Monals
genusLophophorus
Red-tailed Francolins
genusCampocolinus
Argusianus
genusArgusianus
Tragopans
genusTragopan
Rollulus
genusRollulus
Bush-Quails
genusPerdicula
Desert Partridges
genusAmmoperdix
Tropicoperdix
genusTropicoperdix
Eared-Pheasants
genusCrossoptilon
Ithaginis
genusIthaginis
Pucrasia
genusPucrasia
Caloperdix
genusCaloperdix
Haematortyx
genusHaematortyx
Catreus
genusCatreus
Lerwa
genusLerwa
Falcipennis
genusFalcipennis
Monal-Partridges
genusTetraophasis
Forest Francolins
genusPeliperdix
Margaroperdix
genusMargaroperdix
Congo Peafowl
genusAfropavo
Xenoperdix
genusXenoperdix
Crested Arguses
genusRheinardia
Tetrao × Lyrurus
genushybridTetrao × Lyrurus
Typical × Long-tailed Pheasants
genushybridPhasianus × Syrmaticus
Ruffed × Typical Pheasants
genushybridChrysolophus × Phasianus
Chrysolophus × lophura × phasianus
genushybridChrysolophus × lophura × phasianus
Phasianus × Lophura
genushybridPhasianus × Lophura
Junglefowl × Typical Pheasants
genushybridGallus × Phasianus
Lyrurus × Tetrastes
genushybridLyrurus × Tetrastes
Melanoperdix
genusMelanoperdix
Sage-Grouse × Prairie-Chickens
genushybridCentrocercus × Tympanuchus
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Phasianidae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 574.