From Opus

Crossoptilon crossoptilon

Subspecies harmani
Photo by zhangyong
Lasa, China, January 2008

[edit] Identification

• White body with varying amounts of grey depending on subspecies
• Velvety black crown
• Red facial skin
• Small, dark tail
• Small ear-tufts
  

Sexes are similar, but the hens are usually smaller.

[edit] Distribution

Himalayas of south-eastern Tibet, western Sichuan and north-western Yunnan.

[edit] Taxonomy

Photo by baboon
Yajiang, Sichuan Province, China, June 2007

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

• C. c. harmani - "Tibetan Eared-Pheasant"; Rhododendron forests of southern Tibet and adjacent north-eastern India
• C. c. drouynii - Montane forests of eastern Tibet
• C. c. dolani - West-central China (southern Qinghai)
• C. c. crossoptilon - South-western China (western Sichuan) to south-eastern Tibet and extreme north-eastern India
• C. c. lichiangense - South-central China (north-western Yunnan)

[edit] Habitat

Rhododendron forests; montane forests, rocky hillsides in coniferous forests, also in mixed forests in summer to the snow line.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

The diet includes pine needles, juniper berries, wolf berries, and the desiccated seed pods of iris, lily and allium.

[edit] Breeding

Four to seven buff eggs are laid and are incubated for 24 days.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. gbwf.org
3. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links