Syrmaticus ellioti

The male has an olive-gray forehead, top of the head and nape, gray back of the neck, and white neck with gray on the sides. The face is bare and bright red, the ear feathers are light gray-brown, there is a short white eyebrow above the eye, the chin, throat and front neck are black, the upper back and chest are brilliant chestnut, with golden feather tips and black central sub-terminal spots; the base of the shoulder feathers is chestnut, gradually turning black, with a wide white terminal spot, forming a wide white band on each shoulder. The upper coverts of the lower back, waist and shorter tail are black with a blue metallic luster, and have narrow white horizontal stripes and feather edges; the upper coverts and tail feathers of the longer tail are olive gray with broad chestnut horizontal stripes; the upper wing coverts are brilliant dark reddish brown, with steel blue patches running across the middle of the coverts, and the large coverts have black horizontal stripes and white

Distributed in the mountains and forests of Jiangxi, southern Anhui, western Zhejiang, northern Fujian, Hunan, eastern Guizhou and northern Guangdong south of the Yangtze River in China, at an altitude of 200-500 meters in coastal areas and 1000-1500 meters inland.
It mainly inhabits broad-leaved forests, mixed forests, coniferous forests, bamboo forests and forest edge shrubs in low mountain and hilly areas below 1000 meters above sea level, among which broad-leaved forests and mixed forests are the most important. In winter, it can sometimes descend to sparse forests and shrubs at an altitude of about 500 meters.

Elliot's Pheasant, also known as the White-necked Pheasant, has no subspecies and is a large chicken.

Elliot's Pheasant is a resident bird. It likes to gather in groups, often in small groups of 3-8. They often move in and out of rugged mountains and valleys with dense forests and complex terrain. They are timid and alert, and rarely call when they are active, so they are difficult to see. When they find something unusual, they will run a few steps quickly and then stop to observe the movement. If there is no danger, they will quietly walk away or fly away; if they find that the enemy is approaching, they will take off immediately and make a sharp call at the same time. They are active mainly in the morning and evening, often wandering and feeding, resting at noon, and roosting in trees at night.

The white-necked long-tailed pheasant is an omnivorous animal. It mainly feeds on plant foods such as leaves, stems, buds, flowers, fruits, seeds and crops, and also eats animal foods such as insects. In spring, they mainly eat astragalus, selaginella, amaranth, alopecuroides, pinellia, lobelia, grass, leaf beads, bitter tooth, chickweed, violet yedoensis, stone spider plant, as well as radish, rape stems and leaves, mushrooms, fungus, rice, corn and some insects and other animal foods. In summer, they mainly eat caragana, mountain pepper, wild jatropha, kiwi fruit, schisandra, wild grapes and insects. In autumn, they mainly feed on fruits and seeds, especially seeds of Fagaceae plants and insects. In winter, they mainly feed on ferns, grains, corn, and young shoots, stems and roots of plants. They often go to the feeding ground in groups to forage. The foraging place is relatively fixed, and they often go to farmlands to forage. The foraging activities are mainly in the early morning and evening.

The breeding season of the white-necked long-tailed pheasant is generally from April to June. It is a polygynous system, and the male and female separate after mating. At the end of March, the male bird will show estrus behavior. The male bird will show off its courtship in a side profile. When in estrus, the feathers on the whole body will be fluffy, and the male bird will constantly walk back and forth around the female bird, with the body slightly tilted toward the female bird, the wings on the side close to the female bird drooping, the tail slightly open, also tilted toward the female bird, the head stretched forward, looking at the female bird, and making "gu-gu-gu" and "ju-ju-ju" calls. During mating, the male bird pecks the feathers on the female bird's head and climbs onto the female bird's back to mate, like a domestic chicken.

The white-necked long-tailed pheasant likes to nest under the forest or under the rocks at the edge of the forest, in the grass, between the bushes and at the foot of the big tree. It is very hidden and simple, mainly composed of dead branches and leaves and grass stems, and is disc-shaped. The size is 24.0-29.0 cm in outer diameter, 14.0-20.0 cm in inner diameter, and 6.5 cm deep. Each nest lays 5-8 eggs, which are cream or rose white, smooth and spotless. The size of the eggs is 43.2-47.6 mm × 30.4-34.6 mm according to the measurement of 10 eggs, with an average of 45.5 mm × 34.2 mm, and weighs 24.7-27.3 grams. One egg is laid every day or every other day. After all the eggs are laid, they begin to incubate them, which is undertaken by the female bird. The incubation period is 24-25 days.

The white-necked pheasant is a bird endemic to China. It has been listed in the list of key protected wild animals in China and is a national first-class protected bird. Due to the large-scale deforestation, deforestation and forest type transformation in the past, the habitat of the white-necked pheasant has been greatly damaged. In addition, due to large-scale hunting, the population has been declining and the number is scarce. According to a survey of the typical habitat of the white-necked pheasant in Kaihua County, Zhejiang Province in 1984, the population density was 3.5 per square kilometer in summer and 6.9 per square kilometer in winter. It is easy to raise and is raised in zoos for viewing. In June 2022, staff at the Daqishan Protection and Management Station of Jiulingshan National Nature Reserve in Jiangxi Province found that the infrared camera captured the "national treasure" of birds - the white-necked pheasant while recovering and sorting infrared camera data.

Listed as a Class I protected animal in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of the United Nations (IUCN) in 2016, ver 3.1 - Near Threatened (NT).

China Red Book of Endangered Animals: Vulnerable, Effective Year: 1996

Listed in the "List of National Key Protected Wildlife in China" (2021) Level 1.

Protect wildlife and eliminate game.

Maintaining ecological balance is everyone's responsibility!