Blue eared pheasant
| Blue eared pheasant | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Subfamily: | |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | C. auritum
|
| Binomial name | |
| Crossoptilon auritum (Pallas, 1811)
| |
The blue eared pheasant (Crossoptilon auritum) is a large, up to 96 centimetres (38 in) long, dark blue-grey pheasant with velvet black crown, red bare facial skin, yellow iris, long white ear coverts behind the eyes and crimson legs. Its tail of twenty-four elongated bluish grey feathers is curved, loose and dark-tipped. Both sexes are similar with slightly larger male.
The blue eared pheasant is found throughout mountain forests of central China. The diet consists mainly of berries and vegetable matter.
One of the most common and numerous eared pheasants, the blue eared pheasant is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.