phasianid

1. adjective /fay-shuh-nid/

a) In general, of, or pertaining to, any large or small, semiflightless, gallinaceous game birds, such as pheasants, quails, peafowl, junglefowl, and guinea fowl.

The chukar, a bird of the phasianid family, is distributed in Israel across a sharp climatic cline from Mediterranean regions in the north, where mean annual rainfall is between 450 and 1000 mm, to extremely arid areas only \phasianid200 km away in the Negev Desert, where mean annual rainfall is less than 50 mm.

b) Specifically, belonging to the zoologic family Phasianidae, or associated with species falling under that taxonomic hierarchy.

The megapode is viewed as a ‘specialised’ galliform, having extended the phasianid incubation period and producing superprecocial hatchlings that have developed in the egg for a further four weeks.

Syn: phasianous

2. noun /fay-shuh-nid/

Any large or small, semiflightless, gallinaceous game birds, such as pheasants, quails, peafowl, junglefowl, and guinea fowl.

It is a medium-size phasianid: males can weight even 600 grams and are bigger than the females. Moreover, unlike the females, they have ergots on the claws.