- Pucrasia macrolopha
Identification
Males 58-64cm (22¾-25¼ in)
Male
- Silver-grey plumage, feathers have black streaks down the centre of each feather
- Black head
- Chestnut breast
- White patches on the sides of neck.
Female: light brown plumage overall plumage
Distribution
Afghanistan, Nepal, and in north-eastern Tibet, and northern and eastern China.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 9 subspecies[1]:
- P. m. castanea - Mountains of eastern Afghanistan and adjacent Pakistan
- P. m. biddulphi - northern Pakistan and northern India (east to western Himachal Pradesh)
- P. m. macrolopha - West Himalayas (Kashmir to Kumaon)
- P. m. nipalensis - Mountains of western Nepal
- P. m. meyeri - Mountains of south-central China (western Sichuan to north-western Yunnan)
- P. m. ruficollis - Mountains of central China (southern Gansu, Shaanxi and western Sichuan)
- P. m. xanthospila - North Shaanxi to Inner Mongolia, western Liaoning and south-western Manchuria
- P. m. joretiana - Mountains of east-central China (south-western Anhui)
- P. m. darwini - Mountains of central China (Hubei and south-eastern Sichuan to Fujian)
Habitat
Mountain coniferous and mixed forests.
Behaviour
They roost in trees, or under rock overhangs at night.
Diet
There is little information about their diet, but they are believed to eat a variety of seeds.
Breeding
They nest on the ground. They are believed to be monogamous.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved January 2017)
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Koklass Pheasant. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Koklass_Pheasant
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
