Elliot’s Pheasant

     The Elliot’s Pheasant is a spectacular Pheasant native to south-eastern China. It was named after the American ornithologist Daniel Giraud Elliot; but the bird has alternative common names such as the ‘Chinese Bar-Backed Pheasant’.

     The male Elliot’s pheasant is a brown and white bird,with a black throat, and chestnut brown upperparts. His belly and nape are white, and he has also red bare facial skin and a long rusty-barred whitish tail. While, the female Elliot’s pheasant is less ornate, as she is rufous-brown in color with a blackish throat, whitish belly and less barred tail.

     In this species, the male Elliot’s pheasant typically has two or three mates. He also takes no part in nest construction, incubation or care of the chicks. The female Elliot’s pheasant lays her eggs between mid-March and late May. The clutch contains 4 to 12 eggs (on average 5 – 8 eggs), and incubation takes 26 days.