Lady Amherst's Pheasant
Encyclopedia
The Lady Amherst's Pheasant, Chrysolophus amherstiae, is a bird
of the order Galliformes
and the family Phasianidae
.
These are native to south western China
and Myanmar
, but have been introduced elsewhere, and have established a self-supporting, but now declining, feral population in England
, the stronghold of which is now in Bedfordshire
.
The adult male is 100-120 cm in length, its tail accounting for 80 cm of the total length. It is unmistakable with its black and silver head, long grey tail and rump, and red, blue, white and yellow body plumage
. The "cape" can be raised in display.
This species is closely related to the Golden Pheasant
and the introduced populations in England will interbreed.
The female is much less showy, with a duller mottled brown plumage all over, similar to that of the female Common Pheasant
but with finer barring. She is very like the female Golden Pheasant, but has a darker head and cleaner underparts than the hen of that species.
Despite the male's showy appearance, these birds are very difficult to see in their natural habitat
, which is dense, dark forests with thick undergrowth. Consequently, little is known of their behaviour in the wild.
They feed on the ground on grain, leaves and invertebrate
s, but roost in trees at night. Whilst they can fly, they prefer to run, but if startled they can suddenly burst upwards at great speed, with a distinctive wing sound.
The male has a gruff call in the breeding season.
The name commemorates Sarah Countess Amherst, wife of William Pitt Amherst
, Governor General of Bengal
, who was responsible for sending the first specimen of the bird to London
in 1828.
Widespread throughout its large range, the Lady Amherst's Pheasant is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species.
Image:Lady Amherst's Pheasant1.jpg|back view
Image:Lady Amherst's Pheasant2.jpg|side view
File:Chrysolophus amherstiae - Amherstfasan Henne - Lady Amherst Pheasant.jpg|female
Image:Cascais18.jpg|Amherst-Golden cross. In a pure Lady Amherst's Pheasant, the red crest would begin well back on the head, not at the beak, and the belly would have no red.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
of the order Galliformes
Galliformes
Galliformes are an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding domestic or game bird, containing turkey, grouse, chicken, New and Old World Quail, ptarmigan, partridge, pheasant, and the Cracidae. Common names are gamefowl or gamebirds, landfowl, gallinaceous birds or galliforms...
and the family Phasianidae
Phasianidae
The Phasianidae is a family of birds which consists of the pheasants and partridges, including the junglefowl , Old World Quail, francolins, monals and peafowl. The family is a large one, and is occasionally broken up into two subfamilies, the Phasianinae, and the Perdicinae...
.
These are native to south western China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, but have been introduced elsewhere, and have established a self-supporting, but now declining, feral population in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the stronghold of which is now in Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
.
The adult male is 100-120 cm in length, its tail accounting for 80 cm of the total length. It is unmistakable with its black and silver head, long grey tail and rump, and red, blue, white and yellow body plumage
Feather
Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds and some non-avian theropod dinosaurs. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates, and indeed a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty. They...
. The "cape" can be raised in display.
This species is closely related to the Golden Pheasant
Golden Pheasant
The Golden Pheasant or "Chinese Pheasant", is a gamebird of the order Galliformes and the family Phasianidae...
and the introduced populations in England will interbreed.
The female is much less showy, with a duller mottled brown plumage all over, similar to that of the female Common Pheasant
Common Pheasant
The Common Pheasant , is a bird in the pheasant family . It is native to Georgia and has been widely introduced elsewhere as a game bird. In parts of its range, namely in places where none of its relatives occur such as in Europe , it is simply known as the "pheasant"...
but with finer barring. She is very like the female Golden Pheasant, but has a darker head and cleaner underparts than the hen of that species.
Despite the male's showy appearance, these birds are very difficult to see in their natural habitat
Habitat (ecology)
A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...
, which is dense, dark forests with thick undergrowth. Consequently, little is known of their behaviour in the wild.
They feed on the ground on grain, leaves and invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s, but roost in trees at night. Whilst they can fly, they prefer to run, but if startled they can suddenly burst upwards at great speed, with a distinctive wing sound.
The male has a gruff call in the breeding season.
The name commemorates Sarah Countess Amherst, wife of William Pitt Amherst
William Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst
William Pitt Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst, GCH, PC was a British diplomat and colonial administrator. He was Governor-General of India between 1823 and 1828.-Background and education:...
, Governor General of Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, who was responsible for sending the first specimen of the bird to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1828.
Widespread throughout its large range, the Lady Amherst's Pheasant is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
of Threatened Species.
Gallery
Image:Lady Amherst's Pheasant1.jpg|back view
Image:Lady Amherst's Pheasant2.jpg|side view
File:Chrysolophus amherstiae - Amherstfasan Henne - Lady Amherst Pheasant.jpg|female
Image:Cascais18.jpg|Amherst-Golden cross. In a pure Lady Amherst's Pheasant, the red crest would begin well back on the head, not at the beak, and the belly would have no red.
