Nicknamed as terra chaffinch, pine frizzle and mute fowl,
the bird belongs to the Phasianidae family of Galliformes order. Its scientific
name is Syrmaticus humiae (Latin), or Black-necked long-tailed pheasant
(English).
It is a medium-size fowl genus, with a full
body-length of around 55 centimeters. The male bird has breen vertex, with white
superciliary strias on both sides. The upper back is covered by violet maroon
feathers with black spot, and the scapular has wide white lumpy spots. On the
lower back, waist and tectices of the tail, there are white feathers with blue
black spots. Feathers on the wings are dun. The bird has long tail with gray
rectrices, on which there are parallel black-maroon transverse spots. The belly
of the lower body and the two side of the upper body are maroon. The beak and
feet are yellowish gray. The body feathers of female birds are tan and full of
black dapples, with white arrow-shaped spots in the upper back. The outer
rectrices are mainly maroon.
It mostly inhabits in wide meadows and
sparse forests of rock sidehills at an elevation of 1,000 to 3,000 meters,
feeding on acorn, berry, burgeons, tree roots and insects. From March to April,
they can often be seen in a group of one male and two females, beginning to
build nests and lay eggs. The nests are usually built on ground, and the average
number of eggs per brood is 7 to 9. The color of eggs is light incarnadine or
slightly like filemot, smooth and without spots. The incubation period lasts
about 28 days, with the female bird hatches alone.
Endemic to China, Black-necked Long-tailed
Pheasant is a kind of resident bird, mainly distributed in Yunnan Province and
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It has been listed in Appendix I of
International Trade Convention on Endangered Wild Animal and Plant
Species.