Edwards' Pheasant Lophura edwardsi

Edwards' Pheasant
Edwards' Pheasant
Edwards' Pheasant was native to wet forests of Vietnam. It was thought to be extinct in the wild following chemical spraying of its habitat in the Vietnam War of the 1960s followed by logging and deforestation for agriculture, but a breeding pair was found in the late 1990s. A few others were suspected and one was taken from a hunter in 2000, the last confirmed wild individual.
Edwards' Pheasant male Male
Edwards' Pheasant pair Pair
Edwards' Pheasant hen Female
There have been no confirmed sightings since, despite remote cameras, and it may be extinct again in the wild. There are a few hundred in captivity, but all from 6-7 captive ancestors, so with low genetic diversity.
Edwards' Pheasant male
Edwards' Pheasant males
Edwards' Pheasant male
The male is iridescent midnight blue with turquoise scallops on his wings and a white crown. Both have red skin around the eye and red legs.
Edwards' Pheasant
Edwards' Pheasant
Edwards' Pheasant male
Edwards' Pheasant is named after French ornithologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards.
Edwards' Pheasant female
Edwards' Pheasant hen
Edwards' Pheasant hen
The female is plain brown with the red skin around the eye and red legs.
Vietnamese Pheasant male
Vietnamese Pheasant male
Vietnamese Pheasant male
The Vietnamese Pheasant, also called Vietnamese Fireback, was discovered in 1964 in the forests of north Vietnam and given the species name Lophura hatinhensis. Both male and female look identical to its compatriot, Edwards' Pheasant, from the south except that males have white feathers in the tail. It is now considered to be a subspecies of Edwards' Pheasant and given the name L. edwardsi hatinhensis (Edwards' being the nominal subspecies). Some sources still give it separate species status and some make it only a variation of Edwards' as L. edwardsi var. hatinhensis.
Vietnamese Pheasant male
Vietnamese Pheasant male
Vietnamese Pheasant
It is said Edwards' can grow white tail feathers if inbreeding.
Vietnamese Pheasant female
Vietnamese Pheasant female
Vietnamese Pheasant hen
The female Vietnamese Pheasant can also have white tail feathers.