White Eared Pheasants

Crossoptilon crossoptilon

At a monastery in Western Sichuan, China, a monk feeds a wild flock of White Eared Pheasants
Photo © George Schaller

Unlike the Brown Eared and Blue Eared pheasants, the White Eareds lack the prominent ear tuft. They are still striking birds, with their large red faces, red legs, bluish-black tails and pale bodies.

There are three subspecies of this pheasant, which differ in that C. c. crossoptilon, the Sichuan race, has a white body with grey wings; C. c. drouyni, the Tibetan form, has a pure white body; and C. c. dolani, Dolan's Whte Eared, is pale grey.

A normal clutch is 4-7 eggs and the incubation period is 24-25 days.

The Eared pheasants are among the calmest of the family and in captivity often can be taught to go in and out of a coop every night like chickens. Most other pheasants that are let out just keep going!