Lophura nycthemera

Silver pheasant, also known as silver pheasant, has 17 subspecies and is a large chicken of the genus Pheasant of the family Phasianidae.

Silver pheasant has gorgeous feathers and white body color. Because of its hoarse cry, it is called "dumb luck"; it has been a precious ornamental bird in Chinese culture since ancient times. The Bird Classic records that "it resembles a pheasant but is white in color and moves leisurely", so among the five rare birds raised by Li Fang in the Song Dynasty, the white pheasant was called "idle guest". Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty once wrote a poem "Presented to Hu Gong of Huangshan for a White Pheasant"; in the Qing Dynasty, the white pheasant was used as a pattern for the uniforms of officials of the fifth rank.

The white pheasant moves in pairs or small groups of 3-6, and sometimes in winter, there are as many as 16-17 individuals in a group. It consists of a strong male bird and several adult female birds, not so strong or young male birds, and young birds. There is a strict hierarchical relationship within the group. Every spring before the breeding season, there will always be fierce fights. At dusk, they roost on branches in the forest, first stretching their necks and looking around, then flapping their wings and flying to the branches to land steadily. Sometimes a group of them live on the same branch, close to each other, and line up in a straight line. They fly down to the ground one by one the next morning. They are alert and timid. When frightened, they often run from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain. They rarely take off, but they will fly up the tree in an emergency. They usually fly from the night roosting tree to the ground after daybreak. There is usually a peak of activity in the morning and afternoon every day. They are mostly active in the nesting area. The daily activity route, range, and location are relatively fixed. Most of the time is spent on foraging. After eating, they usually stand in place to rest or preen their feathers. Occasionally, they fly to the tree to rest. They live in groups on tall trees at night, and usually start to live in the trees when it gets dark. Usually, the female comes first and the male comes later, or the male and female fly to the branches of a certain height while making calls, and then gradually climb up and hide under the dense canopy of tall trees. The height from the ground is mostly 6-8 meters. They are relatively quiet when they are active, and sometimes you can hear the "rustling" sound of footsteps when walking. Usually, the male bird only makes a sharp warning call of 'ji-go-go-go' when there is danger.

The white pheasant is omnivorous, mainly feeding on the tender leaves, young shoots, flowers, stems, berries, seeds, roots and mosses of plants such as Castanea henryi, Rubus chinensis and passion fruit. The most commonly eaten plants are nuts of Castanea henryi, Millettia oleracea, fern leaves and taro. It also eats wireworms, locusts, ants, earthworms, Lepidoptera insects and larvae, beetles, ants, snails and other animal foods. There are 66 species of plants and more than 30 species of animals that have been recorded as food.

The breeding season of the white pheasant is from April to May. Male birds start to estrus in mid-to-late March. There are one male and many females, and male birds often fight for mates. The male bird's courtship display is sideways, usually circling from the right rear of the female bird to the front left. When it reaches the side of the female bird and is parallel or nearly parallel to the female bird, the male bird keeps swinging its tail left and right, with slow movements and large amplitudes, and then continues to move forward, bypassing the female bird's head and walking away from the right side. After each circle, it stands still 2-3 meters away from the female bird, and repeats once after 1-2 minutes. Each estrus display can be repeated 6-7 times. Sometimes the male bird also squats and stands up quickly and continuously near the female bird, or stretches its wings to make high-frequency, small-amplitude intense wing flapping movements, which is called "fluttering". At the same time, it emits a slight trembling call of "1u,1u,1u".

The white pheasant likes to build its nest in the ground depression or grass between the undergrowth of the forest. The nest is relatively simple, mainly composed of dead grass, leaves, pine needles and feathers. The size of the nest is 32-36 cm in outer diameter, 19-24 cm in inner diameter, and 9.5-11 cm deep. Each nest lays 4-8 eggs, which are light to brown and covered with white lime spots. The size of the eggs is 46.7-54.7 mm × 36.3 × 39.5 mm, with an average of 38 mm × 50.6 mm, and weighs 31.1-41.5 grams, with an average of 36.48 grams. Usually one egg is laid every other day, and incubation begins after all the eggs are laid, with an incubation period of 24-25 days. The chicks mature early and can leave the nest on the day of hatching to follow the parents.

The global population size of the white pheasant has not been quantified, but the species is reported to be widespread and common in suitable habitats. It is estimated that in 2009, the population size in China was about 10,000-100,000 breeding pairs. There are still a certain number of white pheasants, and the situation of different subspecies also varies. Some subspecies have higher densities in local areas, such as the nominate subspecies density of 0.44 per hectare in Dinghushan Nature Reserve in Guangdong, China; the Hainan subspecies density in Bawangling Nature Reserve in Hainan is 0.2 per hectare, and the Hainan subspecies is estimated to be around 18,000 in the entire Hainan Island.

The habitat of the white pheasant is greatly threatened by human economic activities today, mainly manifested in local residents burning firewood, collecting Chinese herbal medicines, building roads, and carrying out forest eco-tourism.

Listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2016 ver3.1-Least Concern (LC).

Listed in China's National List of Key Protected Wildlife (February 5, 2021) Level 2.

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Distributed in Cambodia, China, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam. Uncertain existence: Argentina.
Distributed in Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hainan and other places in China. The white pheasant is divided into 16 subspecies, mainly marked by the width and number of black stripes on the upper body and tail feathers of the male bird. There are 9 subspecies distributed in China. The Rongjiang subspecies is distributed in Rongshui, Nandan, Donglan, Huanjiang in northwest Guangxi, Hechuan, Xuyong in southern Sichuan and 11 counties and cities in Guizhou; the western Yunnan subspecies is distributed in Tengchong, Luxi, Yingjiang, Lushui and other places in western Yunnan; the northern Myanmar subspecies is only distributed in Lancang in southwestern Yunnan; the Shan State subspecies is distributed in 15 counties and cities in western Yunnan; the southern Yunnan subspecies is distributed in 1

The male bird has blue-black feathers on its head and lower body; its face is naked and red. The upper body and wings are white, and there are densely covered with black stripes that are similar to a 'V' shape starting from the nape or upper back; the number, thickness and conspicuousness of the black stripes vary with the subspecies. The tail is very high and white. The length of the tail, whether there are black stripes on it, and the number of black stripes also vary with the subspecies, which is another identifying feature of the subspecies. The plumage color of the male bird is different from the gorgeous colors of other pheasants, but it is covered in silver. It has a long, thick, hair-like black feather crest on its head, which is draped behind its head; its face is naked and bright red; its entire lower body is jet black; its upper body and long tail feathers on the back of its body, They are all white substrates covered with thin "V" shaped black lines. Wha