Reeves's pheasant (''Syrmaticus reevesii'') is a large
pheasant
Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...
within the genus ''
Syrmaticus''. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to
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 ...
. It is named after the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
naturalist
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
John Reeves, who first introduced live specimens to Europe in 1831.
Description

Males measure long and weigh .
[ The male is brightly plumaged with a scaled golden white and red body plumage, grey legs, brown iris and bare red skin around the eye. The head is white with a black narrow band across its eyes. The male has an extremely long silvery white tail barred with chestnut brown. This pheasant is mentioned in the 2008 edition of '']Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...
'' for having the longest natural tail feather of any bird species; a record formerly held by the crested argus pheasant. The tail can measure up to long.
Females measure long and weigh .[ They are brown with a blackish crown, a buff face and greyish brown barred tail feathers. The females are about the same size as a male ]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 ...
.
There are no known subspecies, but there is some variation in plumage.
Distribution and habitat
The Reeves's pheasant is endemic to the temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...
and deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
forests of central and eastern China. Where introduced, they also inhabit farmland close to woodlands. The tail of the male bird grows approximately every year.
They have been introduced for sport and ornamental purposes to the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
, France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Reeves's pheasant is considered to be a valuable gamebird due to favoring wooded hills not frequented by native gamebirds and to being a high flyer when startled. Reeves's pheasants were introduced in the United Kingdom in a number of estates across England, Scotland, and Ireland; breeding was reported in a number of locations, but most of these introductions did not develop established populations. While sporadic sightings occurred across the country, the only locations with significant breeding activity by the late 1970s were Woburn, Bedfordshire
Woburn (, meaning twisted or crooked stream) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, about southeast of Milton Keynes and south of junction 13 of the M1 motorway. At the 2011 census, it had a populat ...
, and Kinveachy in the Caledonian Forest. By 2009, no areas of notable reproduction were noted. The species' failure to establish itself is attributed to the males' tendency to wander from their areas of release, which, together with their call not carrying as far as other species', hampers reproduction. Additionally, the birds have interbred with the larger populations of 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, resulting in dilution of the released stock.
Behaviour
The Reeves's pheasant is a hardy bird and is able to tolerate both hot and cold weather. They prefer higher ground for nesting. The female lays a clutch of 7–14 eggs in April or May; the incubation period is 24–25 days. Reeves's pheasants are often aggressive towards humans, animals, and other pheasants, particularly during the breeding season.[
Their call is unlike other game birds in that it is a musical warble, sounding more ]passerine
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...
than a galliform bird. Their diet is vegetable matter, including seeds and cereals. They are fairly common in aviculture.
Conservation
Due to ongoing habitat loss, and overhunting for food and its tail plumes, the Reeves's pheasant is evaluated as Vulnerable 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. There are thought to be only around 2000 birds remaining in the wild.
The species is included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
Convention may refer to:
* Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct
** Treaty, an agreement in international law
** Convention (political norm), uncodified legal or political tradition
* Convention (meeting ...
(CITES) meaning international export/import (including in parts and derivatives such as feathers) requires CITES documentation to be obtained and presented to border authorities.
See also
* List of endangered and protected species of China
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, bu ...
References
External links
Reeves Pheasant at Game Birds and Wildfowl
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q339483
Reeves's pheasant
Reeves's pheasant (''Syrmaticus reevesii'') is a large pheasant within the genus ''Syrmaticus''. It is Endemism, endemic to China. It is named after the British people, British natural history, naturalist John Reeves (naturalist), John Reeves, wh ...
Birds of China
Endemic birds of China
Reeves's pheasant
Reeves's pheasant (''Syrmaticus reevesii'') is a large pheasant within the genus ''Syrmaticus''. It is Endemism, endemic to China. It is named after the British people, British natural history, naturalist John Reeves (naturalist), John Reeves, wh ...
Reeves's pheasant
Reeves's pheasant (''Syrmaticus reevesii'') is a large pheasant within the genus ''Syrmaticus''. It is Endemism, endemic to China. It is named after the British people, British natural history, naturalist John Reeves (naturalist), John Reeves, wh ...
Game birds