📸 PhotoPhoto: Alnus · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Swinhoe's Pheasant
Lophura swinhoii (Swinhoe's Pheasant · サンケイ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 The male's total length of about 72 cm is similar to the height of a standard desk (about 70 cm).
- 💡 Taipei Zoo announced in a press release that it raised 11 chicks in a single year and renovated its exhibit with forest-floor plants for this bird.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
Swinhoe's Pheasant is a large pheasant endemic to Taiwan. Because of its small population and severe habitat loss, it has long been listed on international threatened species lists.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Most of the male's body is bluish-black with a purple metallic sheen, accompanied by a white crest and a white back. Only the central pair of tail feathers is white while the rest are dark blue, its legs are red, and its bare facial skin is blood-red. The female is brown with even yellowish V-shaped markings.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It nests on the ground and the female incubates the eggs for about 25 days. It is omnivorous, eating flowers, berries, moss, grass seeds, termites, and grasshoppers; during courtship, the male repeatedly nods his head, stands sideways to display his back feathers, and circles the female.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List NT (2019) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22679241/136677351
- • IUCN Red List category NT — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • doi.org — avilist.v2026
- • iucnredlist.org — 136677351
- • wikidata.org — Q715245
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Swinhoe's Pheasant 0673.jpg
- • zoo.gov.taipei — News Content.aspx
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — author not recorded · Public Domain Mark 1.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Arborophila hyperythra)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.