Swinhoe’s pheasant (Lophura swinhoii)

Swinhoe's pheasant, side view
Swinhoe's pheasant, side view

Swinhoe’s pheasant fact file

Swinhoe’s pheasant description

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderGalliformes
FamilyPhasianidae
GenusLophura (1)

The Swinhoe’s pheasant cock is a spectacular bird, boasting a glossy black plumage with brilliant metallic blue lustre, and a bold and distinctive pattern of white patches on the upper back, crest and long central tail feathers (4) (5) (6). The shoulders are a dark, shimmering maroon, and conspicuous crimson-red legs and face wattles inject a splash of vibrant colour (4) (5). Females are smaller and mostly greyish-brown, speckled with triangular yellow-buff markings, for camouflage when incubating (6) (7).

Synonyms
Euplocomus swinhoii, Hierophasis swinhoii.
Spanish
Faisán de Formosa, Faisán de Swinhoe.
Size
Male length: c. 79 cm (2)
Male tail length: 41 – 50 cm (2)
Female length: c. 50.5 cm (2)
Female tail length: 20 – 22 cm (2)
Top

Swinhoe’s pheasant biology

This pheasant roosts in trees at night (6) and forages on the ground by day, with most feeding seeming to occur in the morning and late afternoon, typically along trail edges (4) (9). Swinhoe’s pheasants have a varied diet, including acorns, berries, flower buds, leaves and other plant material, as well as a few earthworms, millipedes, termites and other insects (4) (9). Though these pheasants typically feed alone, they may be seen in small groups or with their young during the breeding season (6).

During the breeding season, from March until July, males perform impressive courtship displays to entice females to mate (4). This involves flaunting their brilliant metallic plumage and erecting their white crest and red face wattles, while they bob their head up and down, jump around and whirr their wings (2). Peak egg-laying probably occurs in March and May, although reports as late as October exist (9). Nests are built in highly secretive, well hidden places under large shelters, such as at the foot of a tree or under rocks, and occasionally in trees, where they are safe from the rain and predators (6) (9). Clutches of three to eight eggs are laid and then incubated for around 25 days (in captivity) by the female alone (4) (9).

Top

Swinhoe’s pheasant range

Endemic to the mountains of Central Taiwan (8) (9).

Top

Swinhoe’s pheasant habitat

Inhabits primary broadleaf forest, and occasionally also mature secondary hardwood forest, from 200 to 2,300 m above sea level (8) (9).

Top

Swinhoe’s pheasant status

Classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List 2006 (1) and listed on Appendix I of CITES (3).

IUCN Red List species status – Near Threatened

Top

Swinhoe’s pheasant threats

In the past, Swinhoe’s pheasant suffered from heavy hunting pressure, but poaching no longer poses a serious threat (8). The species’ habitat has also been subject to a variety of pressures, and this bird is known to have become extinct in several areas in the 1960s and 1970s, although it apparently remains common where suitable habitat exists (8) (9). Numbers are thought to be stable in protected areas, but declining elsewhere as a result of ongoing pressures on its forest environment (8).

Top

Swinhoe’s pheasant conservation

Swinhoe’s pheasant occurs in several protected areas, including Yushan National Park, where an estimated 6,500 individuals live (8). The greatest priority for the conservation of this, and other native, species in Taiwan must be to preserve the remaining tracts of forest that support them (6).

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Top

Find out more

For more information on Swinhoe’s pheasant see:

Birding in Taiwan:
http://www.birdingintaiwan.com/swinhoespheasant.htm

gbwf.org: Dedicated to the Aviculture and Conservation of the World’s Galliformes:
http://www.gbwf.org/pheasants/swinhoe.html

For more information on this and other bird species please see:

Top

Authentication

This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact: arkive@wildscreen.org.ukTop

Glossary

Endemic
A species or taxonomic group that is only found in one particular country or geographic area.
Wattles
Bare fleshy skin that hangs from the bill, throat or eye of birds.
Top

References

  1. IUCN Red List (June, 2006)
    http://www.iucnredlist.org
  2. Delacour, J. (1951) The Pheasants of the World. Country Life Ltd., London.
  3. CITES (June, 2006)
    http://www.cites.org
  4. Birding in Taiwan (August, 2006)
    http://www.birdingintaiwan.com/swinhoespheasant.htm
  5. The Digital Museum of Nature and Culture (August, 2006)
    http://ndap.nmns.edu.tw/eng/essential/knowledge/zo1/zo100000100100000/Module.jsp-ID=zo100000100150000.htm
  6. gbwf.org: Dedicated to the Aviculture and Conservation of the World’s Galliformes (August, 2006)
    http://www.gbwf.org/pheasants/swinhoe.html
  7. Pheasant Ridge (August, 2006)
    http://www.compusmart.ab.ca/kbush/swinhoe.htm
  8. BirdLife International (August, 2006)
    http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=255&m=0
  9. del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Sargatal, J. (1994) Handbook of the Birds of the World - New World Vultures To Guineafowl. Vol. 2. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

More »Related species

Vietnamese pheasant (Lophura hatinhensis)Edwards’s pheasant (Lophura edwardsi)Salvadori’s pheasant (Lophura inornata)Crested fireback (Lophura ignita)Crestless fireback (Lophura erythrophthalma)Siamese fireback (Lophura diardi)Bulwer’s pheasant (Lophura bulweri)Kalij pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos)

Please donate to ARKive today

Help us share the wonders of the natural world. Donate today!

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.

Get involved

ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!

X
Close

Image credit

Swinhoe's pheasant, side view  
Swinhoe's pheasant, side view

© Kenneth W. Fink / www.ardea.com

Ardea wildlife pets environment
35 Brodrick Road
Wandsworth Common
London
SW17 7DX
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 208 672 2067
Fax: +44 (0) 208 672 8787
ardea@ardea.co.uk
http://www.ardea.com

X
Close

Link to this photo

ARKive species - Swinhoe’s pheasant (Lophura swinhoii) Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.

Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.

Read more about

X
Close

MyARKive

MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.

X
Close

Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials

Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.

Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:

  • view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
  • download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
  • teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.

End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.

Additional use of flagged material

Green flagged material 

Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.

Creative commons material

Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.

Any other use

Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.

Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.