Red junglefowl
Gallus gallus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), also called jungle fowl, red jungle-fowl or domestic chicken, is a bird of the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. It is a small bird with an adult body mass from 500 to 912.5 g (representative value 751.7 g) and a wingspan from 69.1 to 71.7 cm.
Quick facts about the red junglefowl
The red junglefowl is an omnivore that lives in forest habitat, forages on the ground and is sedentary. It lays a clutch of 6 eggs once a year, with an incubation period of 20.5 days, and the IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern, not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 500 g – 912.5 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 69.1 cm – 71.7 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 30 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 20.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 6src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 5 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the red junglefowl?
Photos of the red junglefowl
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the red junglefowl live?
Not recorded
What is the red junglefowl?
The red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), also known as the Indian red junglefowl (and formerly the bankiva or bankiva-fowl), is a species of tropical, galliform bird in the phasianid family, found across much of Southeast Asia and parts of South Asia.
The red junglefowl was the primary species to give rise to today's many breeds of chicken (G. g. domesticus). Lesser contributions came from the grey junglefowl (G. sonneratii), Sri Lankan junglefowl (G. lafayettii) and the Javanese green junglefowl (G. varius). Whole genome sequencing has revealed that the chicken was first domesticated from red junglefowl ca. 8,000 years ago, with this domestication event involving multiple maternal origins.
The domesticated variant is raised worldwide by humans in their tens of billions for their meat, eggs, colourful plumage and companionship. The wild form of G. gallus is sometimes used in zoos, parks or botanical gardens as a form of pest control, similarly to—and often kept with—the Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) or the helmeted guinea fowl (Numida meleagris).
From the Wikipedia article “Red junglefowl” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_junglefowl&oldid=1384731382), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the red junglefowl endangered?
The red junglefowl is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the red junglefowl classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderGalliformes
- familyPhasianidae
- genusGallus
- SpeciesGallus gallus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Gallus domesticus, Gallus gallus domesticus, Gallus giganteus, Gallus lanatus, Gallus morio, Gallus morio, Phasianus gallus domesticus
Other names and names in other languages (110)
- Domestic chickenEnglish
- Jungle fowlEnglish
- Red jungle-fowlEnglish
- RooiboshoenderAfrikaans
- RooiwoudhoenderAfrikaans
- AkokɔAkan
- دجاج الأدغال الأحمرArabic
- বনকুকুৰাAssamese
- pitu bravuAsturian
- Kékér barakBalinese
- Банкіўскі певеньBelarusian
- Банкивска кокошкаBulgarian
- লাল বনমোরগBangla
- Kilhog bankivaBreton
- GallCatalan
- gall bankivaCatalan
- Gall de BankivaCatalan
- MånnokChamorro
- kur bankivskýCzech
- Ceiliog coedwig cochWelsh
- bankivahøneDanish
- Rød JunglehøneDanish
- BankivahuhnGerman
- AjïthDinka
- Άγριο ΚοτόπουλοGreek
- ruĝa kokoEsperanto
- Bankiva kokoEsperanto
- Gallo bankivaSpanish
- Gallina silvestreSpanish
- Gallo asiáticoSpanish
- Gallo silvestreSpanish
- Puna-džunglikanaEstonian
- puna-džunglikana (bankiva kana)Estonian
- KokloEwe
- مرغ جنگلی سرخPersian
- punaviidakkokanaFinnish
- Coq doréFrench
- Coq bankivaFrench
- Coq sauvageFrench
- Jal dorâArpitan
- Coileach coilleIrish
- תרנגול ברHebrew
- תרנגול בנקיבהHebrew
- תרנגול בר אדוםHebrew
- divlja kokošCroatian
- bankivatyúkHungarian
- Ayam hutan merahIndonesian
- Ayam-hutan merahIndonesian
- BankívahænsnIcelandic
- GalloItalian
- Gallo comuneItalian
- Gallo rossoItalian
- セキショクヤケイJapanese
- Pitik alas abangJavanese
- ბანკივური ქათამიGeorgian
- nywanTyap
- Банкивтік қоразKazakh
- ಕೆಂಪು ಕಾಡುಕೋಳಿKannada
- 닭Korean
- 적색야계Korean
- Жапайы тоокKyrgyz
- BankivahongLuxembourgish
- bankivinė vištaLithuanian
- džungļu vistaLatvian
- Sarkanā savvaļas vistaLatvian
- HeiheiMāori
- ചുവന്ന കാട്ടുകോഴിMalayalam
- တောကြက်Burmese
- NaʼahóóhaiNavajo
- JungelhaneNorwegian Bokmål
- लुइँचेNepali
- kipDutch
- BankivahoenDutch
- Rode KamhoenDutch
- Rood KamhoenDutch
- bankivahaneNorwegian
- Rød bankivahøneNorwegian
- ଲାଲ୍ ଜଙ୍ଗଲୀ କୁକୁଡ଼ାOdia
- Kur bankiwaPolish
- (kur) bankiwaPolish
- رتا جنگلی ککڑWestern Panjabi
- Galo-banquivaPortuguese
- galo-bravo-vermelhoPortuguese
- galo-vermelhoPortuguese
- Банкивский петухRussian
- Банкивская джунглевая курицаRussian
- kura diváSlovak
- Kura červenáSlovak
- bankivska kokošSlovenian
- Црвена дивља кокошSerbian
- Indijska divlja kokošSerbian
- röd djungelhönaSwedish
- bankiva-hönaSwedish
- tamhönaSwedish
- சிவப்புக் காட்டுக்கோழிTamil
- Moa oviriTahitian
- కోడిTelugu
- ไก่ป่าThai
- ManokFilipino
- Moa kaivaoTongan
- MoaTongan
- Yaban TavuğuTurkish
- Kızıl Orman KuşuTurkish
- Kızıl Yaban Tavuğu (Kızıl Orman Tavuğu)Turkish
- Курка звичайнаUkrainian
- Банківський півеньUkrainian
- курка банківськаUkrainian
- Gà rừng lông đỏVietnamese
- 紅原雞Chinese
- 红原鸡Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the red junglefowl
Other species in the same genus Gallus.
Grey junglefowl
Gallus sonneratii
Sri Lankan junglefowl
Gallus lafayettii
Green junglefowl
Gallus varius
CompareRed junglefowl vs Grey junglefowlRed junglefowl vs Sri Lankan junglefowlRed junglefowl vs Green junglefowl
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the red junglefowl?
The red junglefowl is a bird in the family Phasianidae and the order Galliformes. Its other English names include jungle fowl, red jungle-fowl and domestic chicken.
How heavy is the red junglefowl?
Adult red junglefowl weigh from 500 to 912.5 g, with a representative value of 751.7 g. This places it in the small size class.
What does the red junglefowl eat?
The red junglefowl is an omnivore that forages on the ground.
Is the red junglefowl endangered?
No. The red junglefowl is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the red junglefowl live?
Our sources give a lifespan of 30 years for the red junglefowl.
How many eggs does the red junglefowl lay?
The red junglefowl lays a clutch of 6 eggs, once a year, and incubation lasts 20.5 days. It reaches sexual maturity at 152.2 days.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Red junglefowl (Gallus gallus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-junglefowl
“Red junglefowl (Gallus gallus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-junglefowl.
@misc{red_junglefowl_2026,
title = {Red junglefowl (Gallus gallus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-junglefowl},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}