Bird Album
White Eared Pheasant
Crossoptilon crossoptilon (Hodgson, 1838)
≈80 cmLength2.1 kgWeight
It has fluffy, fur-like white feathers overall, a red face around the eye and a blue-black tail tip.
Busiest months: May · Most records: China
How to identify
Field marks
- Crown black, with fine, dense, downy feathers
- Face around the eye red
- Body feathers pure white and fluffy like fur
- Tail feathers white at the base, grading to blue-black at the tips
Male, female and young
Sexes alike in color; in the nominate subspecies, the male is distinctly larger than the female.
Where and when it's recorded
White Eared Pheasant has been recorded at 26 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 1 country or region.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
Where it's recorded most
- Balang Shan – Tunnel AreaChina198 records
- Balang Shan [General Area]China141 records
- Baizha ForestChina125 records
More places
- MengbishanChina84 records
- Kanda MountainChina61 records
- Balang Shan PassChina59 records
- Mengbishan – upper trackChina24 records
- AngsaiChina18 records
- Shudu LakeChina13 records
- Potatso National ParkChina9 records
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
The white eared pheasant (Crossoptilon crossoptilon), also known as Dolan's eared pheasant or Bee's pheasant, is a species of "eared pheasant" that get its name because its colouration is white and has the prominent ear tufts of the genus, not because it has white ears. The indigenous people of Himalaya call it shagga, meaning snow fowl. This gregarious bird lives in large flocks, foraging on alpine meadows close to or above the snowline throughout the year.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the White Eared Pheasant?
The White Eared Pheasant is about ≈80 cm long and weighs around 2.1 kg.
Where does the White Eared Pheasant live?
Its breeding range: Oriental: west-central, south-central China and Tibet. It is most often recorded in China.
When is the best time to see the White Eared Pheasant?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in May (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the White Eared Pheasant endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the White Eared Pheasant as Least Concern.
What does the White Eared Pheasant eat?
Main food: Land plants.
What family is the White Eared Pheasant in?
It belongs to the family Pheasants & Allies (Phasianidae), order Galliformes.
At a glance
- Length
- ≈80 cm
- Weight
- 2.1 kg
- Habitat
- Forest
- Diet
- Land plants
- Lifestyle
- Active on the ground
- Migration
- Resident (barely migrates)
- Conservation
- Least Concern
More measurements
- Wing
- 312 mm
- Tail
- 418 mm
- Bill
- 51 mm
- Tarsus
- 94 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Oriental: west-central, south-central China and Tibet
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Subspecies · 4
- Crossoptilon crossoptilon dolani se Qinghai (wc China)
- Crossoptilon crossoptilon crossoptilon se Tibet, sw China
- Crossoptilon crossoptilon lichiangense n Yunnan to sw Sichuan (sc China)
- Crossoptilon crossoptilon drouynii e Tibet
Classification
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Pheasants & Allies Phasianidae
- Genus
- Crossoptilon
Other birds in the genus Crossoptilon
Tibetan Eared PheasantCrossoptilon harmani
Brown Eared PheasantCrossoptilon mantchuricum
Blue Eared PheasantCrossoptilon auritum
Udzungwa Forest PartridgeXenoperdix udzungwensis
Ferruginous PartridgeCaloperdix oculeus
Crested PartridgeRollulus rouloul
Black PartridgeMelanoperdix niger
Hill PartridgeArborophila torqueola
Sichuan PartridgeArborophila rufipectus
Chestnut-breasted PartridgeArborophila mandellii
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Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from reference photos. ↗
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