Mountain Peacock-Pheasant

     The Mountain Peacock-Pheasant, also known as the Mirror Pheasant or the Rothschild’s Peacock-Pheasant, is a Pheasant species endemic to the Montane forests of the central Malay Peninsula. It’s a member of the Peacock-Pheasants’ family, which consists of a group of pheasants that possess prominent round eye-shaped spots (ocelli) on their plumage.

     The Mountain Peacock-Pheasant has a dark-grey head and neck, and a black breast. It has also chestnut mantle and wings, which are adorned with small bluish-green ocelli. Both sexes of the Mountain Peacock-Pheasant are are similar in appearance but females are smaller, have smaller black ocelli, and a shorter, less graduated tail with almost no ocelli. Male birds also differ in having spurs while females have none.

     The breeding season of the Mountain Peacock-Pheasant is thought to occur either with multiple partners or with a series of successive partners. Two eggs are usually laid per clutch, and incubated for 19 to 21 days before they hatch.