A long-tailed game bird introduced from Asia; males are strikingly colourful with iridescent plumage and red facial wattles.
At a glance
Sounds
Range map
Range map
Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.
Species notes
Overview
Male has fleshy, red facial wattles, iridescent blue neck, and richly colored red and golden underparts with dark spots; his namesake white neck ring is indistinct on some birds. Female is buffy-brown, heavily marked with black, and usually shows some white markings around the eye. In much of its introduced range, including North America, there are no similar species. Elsewhere, note male’s blue neck and heavily spotted body, and female’s spotted or chevroned (not barred) underparts and mostly plain face lacking strong red markings. Japanese birds are now treated as a separate species, Green Pheasant.
Behavior
Found in farmland, scrub, and along the edge of forest, and often gives a loud, abrupt rasping call that draws attention to its presence.
Gallery