Range: Southeastern Tibet, southwestern China, upper Burma and northern Shan States.
Habitat: Higher elevations from 6,000 to 15,000 feet in scrub bamboo forests and shrub areas at highest part of range.
Description: Cock:Top of head is bronze-green with hair-like recumbent 2 1/2 inch red crest. Cape around throat is pure white truncated feathers with steel blue margins. Mantle, scapulars, throat and upper breast are metallic green edged in black. Lower back is black with wide fringe of golden yellow, rump is fringed scarlet. Greatly elongated tail feathers are silvery white with bars and narrow black lines. Iris is yellow with pale blue facial skin.
Hen:Head is reddish-brown with black spots and very small black crest, throat dull buff tipped rufous. Wings warm brown and mottled, rump is rufous with wavy black stripes. Body and tail are brown, iris yellow-brown with gray-blue orbital ring.
Adaptations/Habitat: Well able to withstand the most severe weather conditions and neither damp nor cold harms them. They live in rocky mountain ridges that are barren except for growth of scrub bamboo and low growing shrubs. They avoid dense forests. The are long-limbed active pheasants and are well adapted to life at high altitudes. There is only a loose relationship between the sexes and during breeding season the more dominant cocks will mate with several hens. After mating, hens withdraw to lay, incubate and later rear their chicks entirely unaided, the cocks remaining to defend their mating ground fighting furiously with rival cocks. In the autumn, when the young birds are present, they will join together into large parties. The mating ritual is among the most elaborate of all pheasants. The posturing and dance of the male occurs within a dancing arena in a clearing on the forest floor. This may take place over several hours, with the hen usually selecting the strongest and most brightly colored cock from the group.
Breeding/Growth:
Diet: Adults feed primarily on a variety of young bamboo shoots, fruit, seeds and some grain. The young will eat the same along with ants' cocoons and meal worms.
