Green pheasant
| Green pheasant | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Male in Japan | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Galliformes |
| Family: | Phasianidae |
| Subfamily: | Phasianinae |
| Genus: | Phasianus |
| Species: | P. versicolor |
| Binomial name | |
| Phasianus versicolor Vieillot, 1825[2] | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Phasianus colchicus versicolor | |
The green pheasant (Phasianus versicolor), also known as Japanese green pheasant, is native to the Japanese archipelago, to which it is endemic.[1][3] It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the common pheasant.[4] It is the national bird of Japan.[5]
Description
The male (cock) has dark green plumage on the breast, neck, mantle, and flanks. The male also has bluish-purplish hood with clear ear-tufts, red wattle, and long, pale grey-banded tail. The female is smaller than the male, with a shorter tail, and has brownish black colored plumage, with dark brown feather fringed pale brown.[3]
Habitat and distribution
It is found throughout Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu as well as some smaller islands;[3] it has also been introduced in Hawaii[1] and (unsuccessfully) in North America as a gamebird. It inhabits woodlands and forest edges, brush, grassland, and parkland.[3]
This species is common and widespread throughout its native range. It often frequents farmlands and human settlements. The introduced populations on Hawaii are stable. Populations in Western Europe have perhaps bred with the Common Pheasants for a number of years and no pure Green Pheasants exist there any longer. This species has been crossed with the Common Pheasants on some game farms in North America and released.[6]
Gallery
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Male in Japan
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.jpg)
Male (left) and female.
Uniform color of male (with no white on neck) and spotted underside of female are characteristic. -
egg
References
- 1 2 3 BirdLife International (2014). "Phasianus versicolor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.3. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ↑ "Phasianus versicolor (Vieillot, 1825)". ITIS. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
- 1 2 3 4 Brazil, Mark (2009). Birds of East Asia. Christopher Helm. pp. 40–41. ISBN 978-0-7136-7040-0.
- ↑ E.g., "Phasianus colchicus versicolor Green Pheasant". Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ↑ "Kokucho (The national bird)". japanlink.co.jp. Retrieved 25 July 2014. Declared national bird by a non-government body in 1947
- ↑ Web, Avian. "Green Pheasants aka Japanese Green Pheasants". Beauty Of Birds. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
External links
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Wikispecies has information related to: Phasianus versicolor |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Phasianus versicolor. |
- gbwf.org - Green Pheasant (Phasianus versicolor)
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