Lady Amherst's pheasant (''Chrysolophus amherstiae'') is a
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
of the order
Galliformes
Galliformes is an order (biology), order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkey (bird), turkeys, chickens, Old World quail, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems ...
and the family
Phasianidae
Phasianidae is a family (biology), family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, grouse, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, Turkey bird, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular Game (hu ...
. The genus name is from
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
''khrusolophos'', "with golden crest". The English name and ''amherstiae'' commemorates
Sarah Amherst
Sarah Amherst, Countess Amherst (, later Sarah Windsor, Countess of Plymouth; 1762–1838), credited as Sarah Amherst, was a British naturalist and botanist who lived in India. She identified several species which were named after her, including ...
, who was responsible for sending the first specimen of the bird to
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1828.
It is also sometimes referred to as the Chinese copper pheasant. Lady Amherst's pheasant is evaluated as Least Concern on the
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...
of Threatened Species.
Distribution and habitat
The species is native to southwestern
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and far northern
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
, but has been introduced elsewhere. Previously, a self-supporting feral population was established in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, the stronghold of which was in West
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...
. Lady Amherst first introduced the ornamental pheasant on her estates, near the Duke of Bedford's
Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, ...
, where the birds were also shot for game and interbred. Although the introduced British populations are believed to have been extinct since 2015, occasional sightings of the species have occurred in subsequent years throughout the UK; likely due to escapees from private collections.
While populations of Lady Amherst's pheasants were established in England, they were recorded to interbreed extensively with the larger populations of introduced golden pheasants and, to a more limited degree, with
common pheasant
The common pheasant (''Phasianus colchicus''), ring-necked pheasant, or blue-headed pheasant, is a bird in the pheasant family (biology), family (Phasianidae). The genus name comes from Latin ''phasianus'' 'pheasant'. The species name ''colchic ...
s. Most of the existing populations of golden pheasants have at least trace ancestry from Lady Amherst's pheasants.
Reasons for the decline in the species in England include predation by the
northern goshawk, which had been largely absent from the island when the pheasants were introduced; destruction of woodland understorey by browsing by
Reeves's muntjac
Reeves's muntjac (''Muntiacus reevesi''), also known as the Chinese muntjac, is a species of muntjac found widely in south-eastern China (from Gansu to Yunnan) and Taiwan. It has also been introduced in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherla ...
, another introduced species; and loss of habitat due to the increased felling of hardwood forests and their replacement with understorey-less commercial softwoods and increased human recreational use of other woods. Loss of wildlife corridors also isolated remaining populations from one another.
Description
The adult male is in length, its tail accounting for of the total length. It is unmistakable with its nuchal cape which is white black, with a red crest. The long tail is greyish white with black bars and red streaks at the base, the chest and belly are white, the throat is scaled green, the back is dark green, the wings are blue and brown, and the rump is yellow. The "cape" can be raised in display. This species is closely related to the
golden pheasant
The golden pheasant (''Chrysolophus pictus''), also known as the Chinese pheasant, and rainbow pheasant, is a gamebird of the order Galliformes (gallinaceous birds) and the family Phasianidae (pheasants). The genus name is from Ancient Greek ' ...
(''C. pictus''), but slightly larger and has a yellow eye, blue-green bare skin around it. The bill is horn-coloured and they have blue-gray legs.
[Fitter, p.86]
The female is much less showy, with a duller mottled brown plumage all over, similar to that of the female
common pheasant
The common pheasant (''Phasianus colchicus''), ring-necked pheasant, or blue-headed pheasant, is a bird in the pheasant family (biology), family (Phasianidae). The genus name comes from Latin ''phasianus'' 'pheasant'. The species name ''colchic ...
(''P. colchicus'') but with finer barring. She is very like the female golden pheasant, but has a darker head and cleaner underparts than the hen of that species.
Despite the male's showy appearance, these birds are very difficult to see in their natural
habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
, which is dense, dark forests with thick undergrowth. Consequently, little is known of their behaviour in the wild.
Diet and behaviour
They feed on the ground on grain, leaves and
invertebrate
Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...
s, but roost in trees at night. Whilst they can fly, they prefer to run, but if startled they can suddenly burst upwards at great speed, with a distinctive wing sound. The male emits a metallic call in the breeding season.
Gallery
File:Lady Amherst Pheasant RWD3.jpg, Male
File:Lady Amherst Pheasant SMTC.jpg, Male
File:Lady Amherst's Pheasant1.jpg, back view
File:Lady Amherst's Pheasant2.jpg, side view
File:Cascais18.jpg, Lady Amherst's x golden pheasant cross. In a pure Lady Amherst's pheasant, the red crest starts roughly halfway between the cere
The beak, bill, or Rostrum (anatomy), rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for pecking, wikt:grasp#Verb, grasping, and holding (in wikt:probe ...
to the crest tip (not at the beak), and the belly would be all white without any red or brown tainting.
File:Lady Amherst's Pheasant Iran.JPG, Chrysolophus pictus X Chrysolophus amherstiae
References
;Bibliography
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External links
BirdLife Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q385750
Lady Amherst's pheasant
Birds of Yunnan
Birds of Myanmar
Lady Amherst's pheasant