Green pheasant

Green pheasant
Male in Japan
Female in Japan
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Genus:	Phasianus
Species:	P. versicolor
Binomial name
Phasianus versicolor Vieillot, 1825
Synonyms
Phasianus colchicus versicolor

The green pheasant (Phasianus versicolor), also known as Japanese green pheasant, is an omnivorous bird native to the Japanese archipelago, to which it is endemic. Some taxonomic authorities still consider it a subspecies. It is the national bird of Japan.

Taxonomy and systematics

Some sources claim that the green pheasant is a subspecies of the common pheasant, though others claim that they are separate, though closely related, species. The green pheasant has three subspecies. The nominate subspecies, P. v. versicolor, is called the Southern Green Pheasant or Kiji. The Pacific Green Pheasants, P. v. tamensis, and Northern Green Pheasant, P. v. robustipes, are the other two subspecies. There are some cases of hybrids between the green pheasant and the copper pheasant or common pheasant.

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. The males of this subspecies have the darkest plumage, which is mainly green. The male Pacific Green Pheasants, P. v. tamensis, have lighter plumage than the nominate subspecies. Their feathers are more purple and blue. The male Northern Green Pheasant P. v. robustipes have the lightest plumage and their crown and mantle are more bronze than those of the other subspecies. The females of all three subspecies look much more similar, though, like with the males, the females of P.v versicolor normally have the darkest plumage and the females of P. v. robustipes have the lightest.

Behavior

Diet

In the wild, green pheasants eat small animals, such as worms and insects, grains and plants. They are, in captivity, sometimes fed pellets, seeds, plants and live food.

Breeding

The green pheasants' breeding season starts during March or April and ends in June. Green pheasants can first breed when they about one year old. One clutch has between six and fifteen eggs. The eggs are incubated for 23 to 25 days.

Egg

In culture

In Japan, many people claim that green pheasants are scared by earthquakes and 'scream'. They are the national bird of Japan.

Habitat and distribution

It is found throughout Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu as well as some smaller islands; it has also been introduced in Hawaii and (unsuccessfully) in North America as a gamebird. It inhabits woodlands and forest edges, brush, grassland, and parkland.

This species is common and widespread throughout its native range. It often frequents farmlands and human settlements. The introduced populations in Hawaii are stable. Populations in Western Europe have perhaps bred with the common pheasant for a number of years and no pure green pheasants exist there any longer. This species has been crossed with the common pheasant on some game farms in North America and released.

Conservation

Though the green pheasant has a decreasing population, its population is not severely fragmented. On a local and national level, they are used for food, sport hunting, specimen collecting and as pets or display animals. None of these practices are found on an international level. The Green pheasant is one of the 29 designated 'game species' in Japan. These are the only species that can legally be hunted. A hunting license is required.

Gallery

• 
  Male in Japan
• 
  Male (left) and female.
  Uniform color of male (with no white on neck) and spotted underside of female are characteristic.

External links

• gbwf.org - Green Pheasant (Phasianus versicolor)