Bind tailed pheasants
| Bind tailed pheasants | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Syrmaticus | ||||||||||
| Wagler , 1832 |
The binding- tailed pheasants ( Syrmaticus ) are a genus within the pheasant-like family that is widespread in East Asia . Three species are found in the People's Republic of China - one of them, the Burmese pheasant, also in the far northeast of India and in the north of Myanmar and Thailand . The geographically strongly varying copper pheasant lives in Japan , the Mikado pheasant is endemic in Taiwan .
description
.jpg)
The species of this genus are quite large, very long-tailed pheasants that do not have a hood or feather ears. The featherless eye area is red, usually not as extensive as in the chicken pheasant and reduced to a narrow strip above the eye in the king pheasant. The legs only have relatively short spurs. There is a distinct sexual dimorphism in the plumage.
The roosters are very colorful, differ greatly in the various species and - especially the rooster of the king pheasant - have very long tails. In the case of the king pheasant and the copper pheasant, these consist of 18, in the other species of 16 flat control feathers, of which the middle pair towers over the others. As the German name of the genus aptly suggests, they wear narrow crossbands at greater or lesser intervals and are otherwise relatively monochrome and not or hardly speckled or patterned.
The hens have a more brownish, camouflaged patterned plumage and are also slightly smaller than the roosters. With the exception of the hen of the king pheasant, the hens of the other species look very similar and all have several common characteristics that distinguish them from the hens of other genera. The chest is drawn strong and rich in contrast, the lower abdomen completely or predominantly whitish. The feathers on the anterior back usually have a striking white, arrow-shaped shaft markings. Only in the hen of the copper pheasant are the shaft lines and a subterminal stripe pale beige. The lateral control feathers are reddish brown and have subterminal, black bands and a black end band. With the exception of the hen of the mikado pheasant, the middle one or two pairs are clearly distinguished from the others by faded transverse ties.
The black-tailed pheasants are closely related to the genus Phasianus , which is particularly noticeable in the case of the Elliot and Burma pheasants due to their similarly colored plumage, but there are significant differences. The rump plumage in the species of this genus is not soft and tattered as in the pheasant , but rounded and quite hard. Eye-catching hems create a scale pattern. There are further differences in the dune dress, in the sound and behavior repertoire.
Way of life
All species inhabit more or less open high forests in middle elevations up to about 2000 m, the Mikado pheasant occurs up to 3300 m. They need dense undergrowth and more open areas for foraging. Some of them also adopt secondary vegetation as habitat.
Nothing definitive is known about the mating pattern, monogamy is assumed in some species and polygamy in others . The courtship is a simple side courtship in which the cock turns the side and back of the hen with drooping wings and fanned out tail. In the case of the Mikado pheasant and the Elliot Pheasant, a frontal ball is also described. The nest is usually a hollow that has been dug out or formed into a bulge of grass or moss, which is usually only laid out with a few stalks or twigs. A nest made of bamboo stalks has been described for the Mikado pheasant. The eggs are unmarked and cream-colored to olive-brown, the clutch usually consists of between 5 and 8 eggs, more rarely only up to 3 or even up to 15 eggs. The incubation period is between 26 and 28 days.
All species are easy to keep in captivity and all have been exposed to attempts outside their natural range. However, only the king pheasant was able to keep in naturalized populations in Hawaii , France and the Czech Republic .
species
The following species belong to the genus of the binding-tailed pheasant:
- Elliot Pheasant ( Syrmaticus ellioti )
- Burma pheasant ( S. humiae )
- Mikado pheasant ( S. mikado )
- Copper pheasant ( S. soemmerringii )
- King Pheasant ( S. reevesii )
supporting documents
literature
- Charles William Beebe : A monograph of the pheasants , New York Zoological Society, 1918-1922, Vol. 3, pp. 143f
- Steve Madge , Phil McGowan : Pheasants, Partridges & Grouse. Helm Identification Guides, London 2002, ISBN 0-7136-3966-0 .
- Heinz-Sigurd Raethel : Chicken birds of the world. Verlag J. Neumann-Neudamm GmbH & Co. KG, Melsungen 1988, ISBN 3-7888-0440-8 .
