• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Copper Pheasant - BirdForum Opus

Page Discussion
View source History
Male of (sub)species scintillans ("Scintillant Pheasant"). Photo by Rob Hutchinson
Kuruizawa, Japan, January 2009
Syrmaticus soemmerringii

Identification

136cm
Male

  • Copper-chestnut body and tail
  • Copper-red head and neck
  • Paler underparts
  • Red wattles on face near the eyes
  • Long tail
  • Grey legs with short spur
  • Yellow bill
  • Brown iris
Female "Scintillant Pheasant". Photo by petitebouquet
Gifu Pref, Japan, January 2007

Female

  • Greyish-brown upperparts
  • Buff underparts (marked with dark brown bars)
  • No spurs

Distribution

Japan: Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu

Taxonomy

Subspecies are relatively distinct and may be elevated to species. For example, "Scintillant Pheasant" (Syrmaticus scintillans), "Copper Pheasant" (Syrmaticus soemmerringii), "White-rumped Pheasant" (Syrmaticus ijimae: see below).

Subspecies

There are 5 subspecies [1]

  • S. s. scintillans: "Scintillant Pheasant". Japan (coniferous forests of northern and central Honshu)
  • S. s. intermedius: "Scintillant Pheasant". Japan (coniferous forests of south-western Honshu and Shikoku)
  • S. s. subrufus: "Scintillant Pheasant". Japan (coniferous forests of southern Honshu and south-western Shikoku)
  • S. s. soemmerringii: "Copper Pheasant". Japan (coniferous forests of northern and central Kyushu)
  • S. s. ijimae: "White-rumped Pheasant". Japan (coniferous forests of south-eastern Kyushu)

Habitat

Coniferous forests upto 1800m.

Behaviour

Breeding

The 6-12 eggs are laid in a ground nest and are incubated for 24-25 days.

Diet

The diet includes seeds, insects, earthworms, and acorns.

References

  1. Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
  2. www.gbwf.org
  3. Wikipedia
  4. ARKive

Recommended Citation

External Links

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1

Retrieved from ‘https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/index.php?title=Copper_Pheasant&oldid=267311’
Back
Top