Hume's Pheasant
Encyclopedia
Mrs. Hume's Pheasant also known as Hume's Pheasant or Bar-tailed Pheasant, is a large, up to 90 cm long, forest pheasant
with a greyish brown head, bare red facial skin, chestnut brown plumage, yellowish bill
, brownish orange iris
, white wingbars and metallic blue neck feathers. The male has a long greyish white, barred black and brown tail. The female is a chestnut brown bird with whitish throat, buff color belly and white-tipped tail.
This rare and little known pheasant is found throughout forested habitats in China
, Pakistan
, India
, Burma and Thailand
. The diet consists mainly of vegetation matters. The female lays three to twelve creamy white eggs in nest of leaves, twigs and feathers.
The name commemorates Mary Ann Grindall Hume, wife of the British
naturalist in India Allan Octavian Hume
.
Due to ongoing habitat lost, fragmented population and being hunted for food, the Mrs. Hume's Pheasant is evaluated as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I of CITES.
Pheasant
Pheasants refer to some members of the Phasianinae subfamily of Phasianidae in the order Galliformes.Pheasants are characterised by strong sexual dimorphism, males being highly ornate with bright colours and adornments such as wattles and long tails. Males are usually larger than females and have...
with a greyish brown head, bare red facial skin, chestnut brown plumage, yellowish bill
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
, brownish orange iris
Iris (anatomy)
The iris is a thin, circular structure in the eye, responsible for controlling the diameter and size of the pupils and thus the amount of light reaching the retina. "Eye color" is the color of the iris, which can be green, blue, or brown. In some cases it can be hazel , grey, violet, or even pink...
, white wingbars and metallic blue neck feathers. The male has a long greyish white, barred black and brown tail. The female is a chestnut brown bird with whitish throat, buff color belly and white-tipped tail.
This rare and little known pheasant is found throughout forested habitats in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Burma and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. The diet consists mainly of vegetation matters. The female lays three to twelve creamy white eggs in nest of leaves, twigs and feathers.
The name commemorates Mary Ann Grindall Hume, wife of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
naturalist in India Allan Octavian Hume
Allan Octavian Hume
Allan Octavian Hume was a civil servant, political reformer and amateur ornithologist in British India. He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress, a political party that was later to lead the Indian independence movement...
.
Due to ongoing habitat lost, fragmented population and being hunted for food, the Mrs. Hume's Pheasant is evaluated as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I of CITES.