Polyplectron malacense
Silhouette: Yuxin Li · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The Malayan peacock-pheasant (Polyplectron malacense) also known as crested peacock-pheasant or Malaysian peacock-pheasant, is a medium-sized pheasant of the galliform family Phasianidae. The closely related Bornean peacock-pheasant (P. schleiermacheri) was formerly included here as a subspecies, but as understood today, P. malacense is monotypic.
It is one of the shortest-tailed peacock-pheasants. Adult males are about 50 cm long, about half of which is made up by the tail. Their tarsus measures approximately 6.5 cm, and their wings are 20–21 cm long; they weigh from over 600 to nearly 700 g.
The female is slightly smaller than the male, with a noticeably shorter tail; measuring about 40 cm overall, its tail is slightly less than 20 cm long, while its tarsus measures c.6 cm and its wing length is 18 cm. Adult females weigh about 450-550 g.
Their plumage is generally pale brown with small black spots and bands all over, creating the "salt-and-pepper" effect found in most peacock-pheasants. It has iridescent blue-green eyespots with a buff border on its upperwings, back, and on the 22 rectrices, a white throat running down to the center of the breast... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoo of Malaysia | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 2 | Blue Planet Aquarium | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Malayan Peacock-Pheasant sighting in Taman Negara National Park on a given day, based on 120 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 119th most-seen of the 293 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Malayan Peacock-Pheasant in Taman Negara National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, May and September–November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Malayan Peacock-Pheasant sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Taman Negara National Park, in our data
Taman Negara National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Malayan Peacock-Pheasant sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Phasianidae
The closest relatives of the Malayan Peacock-Pheasant that you can see in Taman Negara National Park (family Phasianidae, Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies) are Bornean Crested Fireback (about 20%), Great Argus (about 20%) and Red Junglefowl (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Malayan Peacock-Pheasant is recorded against all the birds logged in Taman Negara National Park (120 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
