The Golden Pheasant

The Golden pheasant is the most elegant and colorful bird. This bird is also known as the Rainbow 🌈 pheasant or the Chinese pheasant. This Bird comes in the category of Least concern.

Image source: Google: https://wallpapercave.com/

Scientific name: Chrysolophus pictus

 

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Aves
Family	Phasianidae
Genus	Chrysolophus
Species	pictus

About-

These birds can not fly. They have a top speed of 72 km/H. They have weights up to 550- 700 grams. They have a lifespan of 5-20 years. Their wingspan is 65- 75 cm long. They are 61- 115 cm in length. They come in the category of least concern. The group of golden pheasants is called nye, beviy, bouquet, and covey.

Habitat- 

As we know that they are also called the Chinese Pheasant so it's easy to say that they belong to the forests in mountainous areas in China 🇨🇳. They are also found in Northern Europe, North America, South America, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Australia, etc.

Diet-

 They are herbivores, they eat berries, grubs seeds, leaves 🍂 , shoots of shrubs, bamboo, flowers 🌸 , etc.

Predators-

They have so many predators like humans 🚶, dogs 🐩 , foxes, cats 🐈 , etc.

Identification -

 There are lots of colors, but the only male has these amazing colors, not females, females are dark in color. The adult male has a golden crest and bright red-colored body. They also have a deep orange color coat. They have bright yellow eyes.

 Females are less flashy means they are not so bright and colorful, they are blackish-brown. Both males and females have yellow legs and snoot but females again have a dull yellow color. 

When they are exposed to the sun they bleach out, that's why they protect themselves from the sun ☀️. 

Females are smaller than males. Females are 60-80 cm long while Males are 90-105 cm in length.

Mating and Nesting -

They have monogamous pairs, but sometimes male behaves as polygamous and can have 8 females at a time. Outside the breeding season, they prefer to live alone. Females attain their maturity at 1 year of age while Male attain their maturity at 2 years of age. They usually use different calls for different situations. For breeding, they use metallic calls. They make their nest on the ground. Females lay 5- 12 eggs. It takes 22- 23 days for hatching. The chicks are motile. Whenever the females feel danger they freeze down and hope that they are camouflage and can not be identified by the predator, and it helps them. The predator did not notice them.

Can a Golden Pheasant fly?

Usually, they can not fly high, but they can fly in short bursts. They are terrestrial birds, they mostly spend their time on the ground. But they straddle in the trees at night 🌚. 

In China, they are represented as a sign of prosperity and good luck.