| The Golden Pheasant or "Chinese Pheasant", (Chrysolophus pictus) is a gamebird of the order Galliformes (gallinaceous birds) and the family Phasianidae. It is native to forests in mountainous areas of western China but feral populations have been established in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The adult male is 90-105 cm in length, its tail accounting for two-thirds of the total length. It is unmistakable with its golden crest and rump and bright red body. The deep orange "cape" can be spread in display, appearing as an alternating black and orange fan that covers all of the face except its bright yellow eye, with a pinpoint black pupil. Males have a golden-yellow crest with a hint of red at the tip. The face, throat, chin, and the sides of neck are rusty tan. The wattles and orbital skin are both yellow in colour, and the ruff or cape is light orange. The upper back is green and the rest of the back and rump are golden-yellow in colour. The tertiaries are blue whereas the scapulars are dark red. Another characteristic of the male plumage is the central tail feathers which are black spotted with cinnamon as well as the tip of the tail being a cinnamon buff. The upper tail coverts are the same colour as the central tail feathers. Males also have a scarlet breast, and scarlet and light chestnut flanks and underparts. Lower legs and feet are a dull yellow. | | The Lady Amherst's Pheasant, Chrysolophus amherstiae, is a bird of the order Galliformes and the family Phasianidae. These are native to south western China and Myanmar, but have been introduced elsewhere, and have established a self-supporting, but now declining, feral population in England, the stronghold of which is now in Bedfordshire. Currently, there is only believed to be one remaining. [1] The adult male is 100-120 cm in length, its tail accounting for 80 cm of the total length. It is unmistakable with its black and silver head, long grey tail and rump, and red, blue, white and yellow body plumage. The "cape" can be raised in display. This species is closely related to the Golden Pheasant and the introduced populations in England will interbreed. The female is much less showy, with a duller mottled brown plumage all over, similar to that of the female Common Pheasant but with finer barring. She is very like the female Golden Pheasant, but has a darker head and cleaner underparts than the hen of that species. | | The Yellow Golden, also known as the Ghigi's Golden, is a popular color mutation of the Golden Pheasant occuring in captivity. The Yellow Golden is not a recognized subspecies of the Golden and I have found no reports of any ever seen in the wild. In my opinion, this is the most striking of the mutations. The obvious difference is the color, with yellow replacing the red. The male has retained the dark green mantle from the original form. The blue of the wings has been replaced with brown while the crest and ruff are the same as the normal golden. The tail is pale brown spotted with light yellow. The hen is pale yellow all over with gray barring. This mutation has its origins in Italy when the late Professor Alessandro Ghigi was presented with one male in 1952. Initial breedings were with a normal hen and normal heterozygous chicks were produced. The heterozygous females were then bred back to the mutant male. By the middle of the 1950s, the yellow mutants were breeding true. The Yellow Golden was quite expensive when first brought to America in the early 1960s, but now they are reasonably priced, very popular and common in aviaries. Be sure to allow plenty of shade, as the brillant yellow will fade to a dull shade of buff if exposed to direct sunlight. | |