The Reeves`s pheasant Syrmaticus reevesi
The body of this bird looks scaled because of bright dark-brown and black edges on its feathers. The head and neck are white, with a distinctive black mask across the eyes and a black collar around the neck. The wings are pale, with black-edged feathers; the belly and lower breast are dark-chestnut. The orange-buff tail is barred with black and silver-grey, the legs are lead-grey. The bill is light blue. The male’s body length comprises about 210 cm; the length of the tail 100 to 160 cm. In females, the head is dark-brown (slightly lighter on the sides), with a touch of black around the ears and under the eyes. The wing feathers are dark-chestnut with grey edges and black mottles. The underparts have greenish tinge, the tail is barred with buff and brown, with the rectrices tipped with black and white. The female’s body length is 75 cm, the tail length is 35–45 cm.
The Reeve`s pheasants are distributed in mountain forests of North and Middle China, at elevations of 300 to 1,800 m above sea level.
These birds were brought to Europe at the beginning of last century. Nowadays, they are quite common in zoos and are also kept by amateur aviarists. The Reeve’s pheasant is currently the most popular species of all long-tailed pheasants. The Reeve`s pheasants are easy to manage, although they are more susceptible to low temperatures and high humidity than other pheasants.
