With the alias of golden pheasant, the bird
belongs to the Phasianidae family of Galliformes order. Its scientific name is
Chrysolophus pictus (Latin), or Grey Peacock Pheasant (English).
The full body length of the male bird is
about 65 centimeters and the female is about 50 centimeters. Body feathers of
the male are black brown, densely covered with approximately white thin dots and
transverse spots. The vertex has filiform aigret. Its back, two wings and tail
are metallic blue with large eye-shaped purple spots. The beak is black, and the
feet are black and tan with two short calcars. The female's feathers are
comparatively dark and the eye-shaped spots are not very prominent. Its tail is
short.
Inhabiting in broadleaf evergreen forests
and canebrakes at an elevation of 150 to 1,500 meters, the bird usually moves
alone or in pairs, feeding on insects, worms, fruit, and seeds. Its breeding
period is from the last ten days of February to the beginning of March. The
nests are mainly built in gulches of jungles and secondary forests near
cultivated lands in mountainous areas, usually in naturally sunken ground. It
lays 2 to 5 eggs per brood, occasionally 6 eggs. The incubation period lasts 21 days.
Grey Peacock Pheasant is mainly distributed in Yunnan and Hainan
provinces.