Siamese Fireback Pheasant

     The Siamese Fireback Pheasant, also known as the Diard’s Fireback Pheasant, is a splendid Pheasant which is Thailand’s national bird. This bird inhabits the forests of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam in Southeast Asia. The name ‘Fireback’ refers to the yellow fiery plumage in the middle of the back, a feature it shares with other ‘Fireback Pheasant’ (the Crested Fireback Pheasant and the Crestless Fireback Pheasant).

     The male Siamese Fireback’s breast, neck and upper back are mostly grey. Both  belly and head are black, but the head is decorated with large scarlet-red facial wattles and a purplish-black crest. The male Siamese Fireback pheasant also has a pattern of metallic blue with coppery-crimson fringes on his lower back that contrasts beautifully with his red legs. On the other hand, the female is mostly bright chestnut-red with a greyish-brown head. She has smaller red facial wattles than those of the male and bears no visible crest. The female Siamese Fireback pheasant is also quite distinct from other ‘Fireback’ hens by having black upper wing and central tail feathers, which are boldly barred with buffy-white.

     Clutches of the Siamese Fireback pheasant seem to contain between four and eight eggs per each. The female does the incubation alone for around 24 to 25 days. And male Siamese Fireback pheasants attain adult plumage in their first year but do not typically breed until their third.