Biodiversity Encyclopedia: Vertebrate – White-bellied Jeweled Pheasant: Did Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty Fall for My Beauty?

Today, we're going to introduce you tothe Vertebrate·White-bellied Jeweled Pheasant.

White-bellied Jeweled Pheasant

Chrysolophus amherstiae

Vertebrates, Class Aves, Galliformes, Phasianidae. Also known as Copper Pheasant, Bamboo Pheasant, and Quilt Pheasant. Male birds have a metal emerald green head, back, and chest; the crest is purple-red; the shoulder straps are white with black feather edges; the lower back and waist are brown, transitioning to crimson posteriorly; the tail is long and has a scattered cloud-like pattern of black and white; the belly is white. Female birds have a mostly brown-gray upper body and tail, scattered with black spots; the chest is brown with black spots; and the belly is pure white.

White-bellied Jeweled Pheasants often inhabit rocky and desolate mountains, appearing in thorny shrubs and dwarf bamboo groves. They move alone or in pairs, and sometimes a male with 2 females together, but in the late autumn and winter, they typically form flocks of 20-30 individuals. Their calls are noisy and rough, and they are good at running. They have a more pronounced seasonal migration than the Red-throated Jeweled Pheasant, summering in high mountain ridges, and migrating to the foot of the mountains in winter. Photo taken in Mangshi.

Due to the jewel pheasant's magnificent plumage and graceful body, it has become a 'favorite' for many photographers and painters. Among the most famous is the painting created by Northern Song Emperor Huizong Zhao Ji, entitled 'Lotus Jeweled Pheasant.' This national treasure-level painting is currently housed in the Beijing Palace Museum. The painting is vividly colored, depicting lotuses and chrysanthemums, with a jeweled pheasant standing on a lotus branch, turning its head to gaze at the double butterflies in the flowers.

However, this jeweled pheasant combines features of both the White-bellied Jeweled Pheasant and the Red-throated Jeweled Pheasant, which allowed scientists to find the earliest record of bird hybridization approximately 900 years ago, confirming that the jeweled pheasant in the painting was a hybrid individual. This research result was published in the ornithological journal 'Hoatzin'.