Swinhoe's Pheasant
Lophura swinhoii (Gould, 1863)
≈62 cmLength1.1 kgWeight
This large blue-purple pheasant is endemic to Taiwan (China), and the male has a white crest and tail and red legs and feet.
Busiest months: December–January · Most records: China
Looks like Mikado Pheasant
How to identify
Field marks
- Male has a blue-purple metallic gloss on the breast, belly and rump
- White crest and white nape
- Red wattle
- Tail feathers white; legs and feet red
Male, female and young
Male has a shining blue-purple breast, belly and rump; female brown with yellow arrow-shaped markings and intricate barring, and chestnut outer tail feathers.
Similar species
Where and when it's recorded
Busiest months: December–January · Most records: China
Swinhoe's Pheasant has been recorded at 11 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 1 country or region.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.
Countries and regions with the most records
eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.
About
Swinhoe's pheasant (Lophura swinhoii), also known as the Taiwan (China) blue pheasant, is a bird of the pheasant subfamily in the fowl family Phasianidae. It is endemic to Taiwan (China).
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Swinhoe's Pheasant?
The Swinhoe's Pheasant is about ≈62 cm long and weighs around 1.1 kg.
Where does the Swinhoe's Pheasant live?
Its breeding range: Oriental: Taiwan (China). It is most often recorded in China.
When is the best time to see the Swinhoe's Pheasant?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in January and December (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Swinhoe's Pheasant endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Swinhoe's Pheasant as Near Threatened.
What does the Swinhoe's Pheasant eat?
Main food: Omnivore.
What family is the Swinhoe's Pheasant in?
It belongs to the family Pheasants & Allies (Phasianidae), order Galliformes.
At a glance
- Length
- ≈62 cm
- Weight
- 1.1 kg
- Habitat
- Forest
- Diet
- Omnivore
- Lifestyle
- Active on the ground
- Migration
- Resident (barely migrates)
- Conservation
- Near Threatened
More measurements
- Wing
- 238 mm
- Tail
- 360 mm
- Bill
- 36 mm
- Tarsus
- 84 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Oriental: Taiwan (China)
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Classification
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Pheasants & Allies Phasianidae
- Genus
- Lophura
Other birds in the genus Lophura
Edwards's PheasantLophura edwardsi
Bulwer's PheasantLophura bulweri
Kalij PheasantLophura leucomelanos
Silver PheasantLophura nycthemera
Malayan Crestless FirebackLophura erythrophthalma
Bornean Crestless FirebackLophura pyronota
Siamese FirebackLophura diardi
Salvadori's PheasantLophura inornata
Malayan Crested FirebackLophura rufa
Bornean Crested FirebackLophura ignita
Download illustration
Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Yu-Ping. ↗
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