The Crested Argus is a pheasant whose male has exceptionally long tail feathers. It lives in remaining evergreen forests along the Annamite Mountains of Vietnam and Laos.
Males have two crests and brown plumage marked with eye-like spots. Their central tail feathers grow very long, while females have shorter tails.
Vietnamese Crested Argus inhabit forests in Vietnam, where calls give clues to their presence. Researchers recorded these calls in Kon Chu Rang Nature Reserve in the Central Highlands to investigate which parts of the forest the birds used.
In 2021, modified smartphones recorded at 40 locations in Kon Chu Rang. Calls were detected at 16, especially in the northern and eastern parts of the reserve. Recordings allowed researchers to compare use of the forest despite its limited visibility.
Occupancy increased with distance from the nearest village. The researchers suggested that poaching might contribute to this pattern, and identified Kon Chu Rang and two neighbouring areas as potentially important conservation sites. Calls thus provided information about habitat use and its relationship with nearby human settlements.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The Kon Chu Rang study suggests possible negative effects of poaching and identifies the reserve and adjacent forest areas as conservation priorities.