Lady Amherst's Pheasant Chrysolophus amherstiae

Lady Amherst's Pheasant
Lady Amherst's Pheasant male
Lady Amherst's Pheasant, named after the wife of the first known person to bring the bird to the UK in 1828, is native to south-eastern Tibet, northern Myanmar and south-western China.
Lady Amherst's Pheasant male
Lady Amherst's Pheasant male
Lady Amherst's Pheasant male
The length of the tail is nearly three times that of the head and body - over a metre long.
Lady Amherst's Pheasant male
Lady Amherst's Pheasant male
Lady Amherst's Pheasant male
Related to the Golden Pheasant, the Lady Amhersts' live in high altitude bamboo forests. So they can survive the wet and cold of the UK where there is a small feral population.
Lady Amherst's Pheasant male
Lady Amherst's Pheasant male
Lady Amherst's Pheasant male
The natural tail pattern is the barred one shown above, and with a green crown to the head.
Lady Amherst's Pheasant hen
Lady Amherst's Pheasant female
Lady Amherst's Pheasant
The plainer female is very well camouflaged. She also has a long tail, just over her body length.
Lady Amherst's Pheasant
Lady Amherst's Pheasant
Those shown in the row above are hybrids with Golden Pheasant giving a red crown, longer red crest, a red belly and a different tail pattern to the pure ones shown in the first row.
Lady Amherst's Pheasant
Lady Amherst's Pheasant
Lady Amherst's Pheasant
The tail pattern above and the full red crown are hybrids of Lady Amherst with the related Golden Pheasant.
Lady Amherst's Pheasant hen
Lady Amherst's Pheasant female
Lady Amherst's Pheasant
The hybrid females are a little redder in tone from Golden Pheasant genes.
Lady Amherst's Pheasant eclipse
Lady Amherst's Pheasant eclipse or juv
Lady Amherst's Pheasant
The male's sub-adult and non-breeding plumage looks like the female's. These are in transition back to non-breeding plumage.
Lady Amherst's Pheasant
Lady Amherst's Pheasant male