New Zealand Introduced Animals > Golden Pheasant

Golden Pheasant

Chrysolophus pictus

INTRODUCED

ORIGIN: Northwest China.

HABITAT: Pheasants prefer cover so can often be found in overgrown vegetation. They can also be found near crop fields where food is easily accessable.

BREEDING: Male birds perform a mating dance to entice the female to mate. He circles the hen and drops his neck capes. 5-11 eggs are laid and incubated by the hen for around 24 days. During the breeding season male pheasants become rather aggressive to other species and even to humans!

FOOD: Grains, seeds, berries and leaf matter.

VOICE: Their call consists of several rolling chirps ranging from low to high pitched.

GENERAL: Males are spectacular, they have a golden yellow head with black barring marks circling around it. They have a green mark high on their back and below this is golden. Their chest is red curving round to blue splashes on the wing. Females are several shades of light brown, they also lack the lovely tail feathers the males have.


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