- Syrmaticus ellioti
Identification
Male 80cm (31½ in)
- Chestnut brown above
- White below
- Black throat
- White nape and wingbars
- Bare red facial skin
- Long white tail with rust coloured bars
Female 50 cm (19¾ in)
- Rufous brown
- Black throat
- White belly
- White tipped tail
Flight
When flushed females do not look like pheasants at all. The primary impression when flying away is of a greyish fat partridge with a fanned tail, clearly rufous with a pale fringe. This very confusing appearance is not noted in the literature.
Distribution
South-eastern China
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Montane bamboo forests and evergreen broadleaved forests.
Behaviour
Diet
They are thought to eat seeds, seed pods, berries and leaves and ants.
Breeding
A wing-whirring display is performed both in the early morning and early afternoon.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved May 2014)
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Elliot's Pheasant. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Elliot%27s_Pheasant
