Crossoptilon harmani

Tibetan Eared-pheasant, no subspecies.

There are two kinds of pheasants in Tibet, China: one is covered with snow-white feathers, with a ball of black fluffy feathers on the top of the head, and the tip of the tail gradually turns from white to gray, and then becomes a thick copper color, with a dark green and dark blue-purple tail tip, scattering a noble metallic luster, usually called snow pheasant or white pheasant. The feathers of another kind of pheasant are not snow-white, but gray-blue, and at first glance they look a bit like blue pheasants. Ornithologists once regarded the two kinds of pheasants as one bird. In order to include both in the name, ornithologists changed the name of the white pheasant to Tibetan pheasant. The classification of the gray-blue Tibetan pheasant once caused controversy among ornithologists. Based on the similar feather color to the blue pheasant, some ornithologists regarded it as a hybrid type of blue pheasant and white pheasant, and listed it as a synonym of the blue pheasant. However, based on the characteristics of its two feather tufts and tail feathers, ornithologists regarded it as a subspecies of the white pheasant. Moreover, from the perspective of geographical distribution, the blue pheasant is far away from the gray-blue Tibetan pheasant, and it is too far-fetched to regard the two as the same bird. When ornithologists regard the Tibetan pheasant and the white pheasant as two independent species in the genus Gallus, the white pheasant is still called the white pheasant, which is worthy of the name; the name of the Tibetan pheasant is specifically given to the pheasant with gray-blue body feathers. The Tibetan pheasant is also called the Hamman pheasant. The earliest ornithologists regarded the Tibetan Eared Chicken as a subspecies of the White Eared Chicken, the southern Tibetan subspecies, based on the characteristics of the tail feathers and ear feathers. The white eared chicken is snow-white with only gray-brown flight feathers and a brilliant green-blue tail feather with a purple sheen at the end, while the Tibetan Eared Chicken is blue-gray all over. Eventually, ornithologists separated the Tibetan Eared Chicken from the White Eared Chicken.

Scientists speculate that the Tibetan Eared Chicken is the most primitive type: the Tibetan Eared Chicken is divided into two branches, one is the various subspecies of the White Eared Chicken, with white feathers; the other is the blue eared chicken and the brown eared chicken, both of which have well-developed ear feathers and a high degree of alienation of the tail feathers. The feather color of the Tibetan Eared Chicken is between the White Eared Chicken and the Blue Eared Chicken. It was once regarded as a subspecies of the White Eared Chicken, but because of its many unique feather colors, it has been listed as an independent species.

Tibetan pheasants are resident birds. They like to gather in groups and often move in groups, especially from winter to spring, sometimes with up to 50-60 birds. There is often a strong rooster in the group as the leader. It often looks up and is very vigilant. When it finds something unusual, it calls and runs to a higher place. The chickens follow closely behind, forming an irregular column. In times of crisis, they fly to a lower place. They are active during the day, starting to move and forage from the first light of the morning until dusk. They often rest in the shade of trees at noon and roost in trees at night. They often make loud calls in the morning and dusk, which are short, rough and loud, with intermittent "click, click, click, click" sounds.

Tibetan pheasants are very good at running, but they fly slowly and usually do not fly far. When frightened, they often run wildly up the mountain, flap their wings and fly up to the ridge, and glide into the valley. Tibetan pheasants are not as timid as blue pheasants and brown pheasants, and sometimes they are not afraid to approach villages. They have a loud voice. When calling, they raise their heads and necks, their beaks almost straight up, and their tails are also tilted up, with a majestic posture. Pheasants use their mouths to dig in the soil to find food.

Tibetan pheasants mainly eat plant food, such as grass roots, grass leaves, tubers, green tree seeds, spruce flowers and fruits, crabapple fruits, daphne, thrush, hairy edelweiss, honeysuckle, wild apples, wild peas, cuckoos, etc. They also eat spiders, centipedes, walking beetles and other coleoptera insects and Lepidoptera larvae and other animal food. Especially in the breeding season. In winter, they eat more tree roots and seeds, in spring, they mainly eat tender roots and leaves of green plants, and in summer and autumn, they eat leaf buds, flowers and fruits of plants. Young birds mainly eat insects, and as their bodies grow, the proportion of insects in their food gradually decreases.

The breeding season of Tibetan pheasants is from May to July. In mid-April, the group begins to gradually disperse into small groups and pair up, with one female and one male. The nest is built in the coniferous forest on the sunny slope at an altitude of 3000-4000 meters. The nest is mostly placed on the ground in the undergrowth, under fallen trees, or in the rock caves in the forest. There are shrubs or tall grasses around to hide it. It is difficult to find it in the low-lying ground under the dense forest or between the shrubs. Some hay and dead leaves are spread in the nest, and the eggs are laid in the nest. The size of the nest is 24-50 cm × 22-30 cm in outer diameter, 34 cm × 22 cm in inner diameter, and 7-17 cm deep. The nest is very simple, mainly using natural pits on the ground, and the inside is padded with dead branches, hay, moss and a small amount of feathers. Each nest lays 4-7 and 15-16 eggs. The egg weight is 59.3-67.8 grams, with an average of 63.9 grams. The egg is earthy yellow and blue-gray. The female bird is responsible for incubating the eggs, and the male bird is active and alert near the nest. The chicks mature early and leave the nest with their parents soon after hatching.

The Tibetan eared pheasant is a bird endemic to China. It is rare and has a narrow distribution area. It is a second-class protected animal in China. The population density is 1.5-2 per square kilometer. According to a survey conducted in Longerjia Mountain, Malkang, Sichuan from March to July 1985, the population density was 2 per square kilometer, which is relatively common. However, due to the large-scale logging of timber in the habitat, large areas of fir trees have been cut down, causing the Tibetan eared pheasant to lose a large area of habitat on which it depends for survival, resulting in a reduction in the distribution area and a decrease in the population.

Listed in the "Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union" (IUCN) 2016 ver 3.1-Near Threatened (NT).

Listed in the "National List of Terrestrial Wildlife with Important Economic and Scientific Research Value" issued by the State Forestry Administration of China on August 1, 2000. (Note: Item 97)

Listed in the second level of China's "National List of Key Protected Wildlife" (February 5, 2021).

Protect wild animals and eliminate game.

Maintaining ecological balance is everyone's responsibility!

Distributed in Lhasa, Linzhou, Dagze, Qushui, Mezhugongka, Doilungdeqen, Gyaca, Cona, Nyingchi, Medog, Langxian, Milin, Gongbujiangda and other places in southern Tibet, China.
Mainly inhabits high mountains and subalpine coniferous forests and mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests at an altitude of 3000-4000 meters, sometimes also in the forest line and forest edge sparse forests and shrubs, sometimes in winter can go down to the evergreen broad-leaved forest and deciduous broad-leaved forest belt around 2800 meters. Most of them live in hills and high mountains.

The male Tibetan pheasant has soft, curly black feathers on its head, which are like down. The side of its head is bare and covered with scarlet warts, which is particularly eye-catching. There are two tufts of white feathers behind the ear feathers, which extend out from the back of the head. They are long and slightly hard, often protruding from the neck, like two horns, or like a snow-white scarf, gently swept by the breeze, so it is also called "horn chicken" or "ear chicken". The body feathers are long and hair-like. The wings are slightly round. The body feathers are mainly blue-gray; the tail is blue-black with a green-blue metallic luster. There is a short blunt spur on the tarsus of the male bird, and sometimes the female bird also has a spur. The tail is slightly flat or flat. The Tibetan pheasant has only 22 tail feathers, and the central tail feathers are relatively flat. The feathers are short and not scattered, and the entire tail is dragged downward.