Scaled Pheasant
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Scaled
Pheasant, Phasicarunculus
rubopellis L 60-95 cm, WS 60-80 cm, Family:
Phasianidae
IUCN Conservation Status: Least concern (LC)
Description:
Large
chicken-like bird with plump body, long legs, small head, and long, pointed
tail. Males are intricately patterned with a deep blue iridescent head and
back, with large, red skin wattles on face that extend past the head and hang
down the sides of the neck. Breast and belly fades from blue to white in a
scaly pattern, the long tail is brown with narrow black striping and long, gray
feathers extend past rump with colorful “eyespots”. Males have spurs on legs.
Females brown, with paler scaling overall and short tail with narrower
striping. Females lack spurs, and face wattles small, pale. Two white bars on
back help distinguish it from similar Sapphire-breasted Pheasant.
Voice:
Males
“crow” around dawn and dusk at all times of year, similar to crowing of a
domestic rooster only shorter, simpler. Crowing can be heard up to two miles
away. Males will also make drumming sounds by beating their wings and a flutter
sound by vibrating tail feathers. Both sexes give a three-note call when they
flush. Female gives special “mumble” calls when interacting with chicks. Other
various calls given associated with flight and alarm.
Range and Habitat:
Uncommon,
range extends throughout eastern Novasola, not seen west of the divide. Prefers
more open ecosystems like open prairie/grassland, scrubland, chaparral, oak
savannah, and forest edges, and will also use deciduous and mixed forests, agricultural
fields, and, infrequently, wetlands. Typically avoids altitudes higher than
6,000 feet. Range and habitat preferences help separate Scaled and
Sapphire-breasted Pheasants. Scaled Pheasants have been introduced to many
places as a game bird, including parts of mainland North America, Europe, and
Australia.
Discussion:
The
visually striking Scaled Pheasant is an incredibly popular, and perhaps the most
sought-after, game bird on Novasola. As comfortable striding across open fields
as in dense forest, they can be found in most ecosystems east of the divide.
Despite their brilliant coloration, Scaled Pheasants can be difficult to find,
as they are somewhat uncommon, and shy. Their plumage is surprisingly cryptic,
providing camouflage in the dappled sunlight of deciduous woods or tall
grasses. They prefer to remain hidden in cover, until a threat has approached
too close, when the pheasant will explode into flight and escape, often flying
no further than 100 to 200 meters.
The
Scaled Pheasant’s diet consists mostly of seeds and grains, especially human
crops, nuts, roots, grasses, and leaves, as well as eggs and invertebrates. In
the spring and summer they will put more emphasis on hunting animal prey like
earthworms, beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, snails, and bird eggs. They have
on rare occasions been observed eating small snakes and frogs. They use their
strong legs and toes to scratch and dig the ground while foraging and can reach
roots as deep as four inches into the soil.
Scaled
Pheasants engage in harem breeding, where one male will establish a territory
and breed with and protect a number of females. He will defend his harem and
territory from other males aggressively by cawing, calling, threat displays,
and, rarely, fighting. The spurs on the male’s legs aid in fights and can make
those encounters extremely dangerous if not fatal, so most competition results
in one male fleeing before any major fighting begins. During courtship, the
male will display for the female by strutting and spreading his wings and tail
feathers, and well as wing drumming. After copulation the female will build a rudimentary
nest under dense cover to lay her eggs. Males take no part in caring for
offspring.
Prized
by hunters, Scaled Pheasants are often voted in unofficial polls as the most
popular gamebird on the island. Though not the largest, tastiest, most common,
or least common, of gamebirds, they are favorited by many much for those
reasons. Though not the most difficult to find and hunt, they are uncommon
enough to still provide hunters with moderate challenges and make beautiful
trophies. Though hunters kill large numbers of birds each year, mostly males,
the bird’s natural “harem” breeding style and strong, effective management
practices ensure the overall population is minimally affected. More birds are
killed each year by automotive strikes and agricultural machinery than hunting,
which have led conservationists to call for re-examination of management plans
and agricultural practices.
The
species name rubopellis is Latin, meaning “red skin”. Together with the
Sapphire-breasted Pheasant, the Scaled Pheasant comprises the genus Phasicarunculus,
a genus found only on Novasola. The genus name comes also from Latin, roughly
meaning “Wattled Pheasant”, named for the large and elaborate facial wattles
found on the males of both species. The taxonomic relationships between this
genus and the rest of the Phasianidae family are disputed, but recent genetic
studies suggest Phasicarunculus is most closely related to the Asian
“Long-tailed Pheasants” of the genus Syrmaticus. The native Gallquayan name for the Scaled
Pheasant is kinaakáax' and the Yukandaluk name is akaxcidaq, both
roughly meaning “long-feathered ground bird”.
Having
been introduced for hunting to numerous other countries, the Scaled Pheasant is
perhaps one of the best-known endemic birds outside Novasola. This pheasant is only
one of the island’s many unique gamebirds; Novasola is the only US state with
native pheasants.
“Take
the Scaled Pheasant as proof incarnate that the desolation of the steppe is in
fact anything but. The vast openness is not the endless emptiness so many have such
categorized it but instead a bountiful plenty all its own. The pheasant, colored
and patterned so intricately, so attractively, that no man would see it and
question the Grand Design, ambles about the prairie, weaving between the
grasses and sage, hiding then revealing itself like an animated treasure. Indeed,
the steppe is more dynamic than it is credited for in most regards, of which
the pheasant is only one example, but the glory and power of this bird alone
change the steppe in the minds of most Novasolans from a grassland waste to a
sportsman’s paradise.
Truly
the splendor of the Scaled Pheasant brings a vitality to every landscape it
touches, which extends beyond the steppe. This bird ranges over the whole of Novasola’s
eastern extent, venturing no further west than the Divide and likewise
abstaining from Kosatka Island and the islands Francis. Though best observed and
most associated with the prairie, they are in fact no more abundant in that
country than elsewhere in their range. The pheasant is just as at home within
the woods and hills, and its proclivity toward open terrain in part separates
it from its cousin in the Sapphire-breasted Pheasant, which ranges exclusively
west of the great mountains and thus has a higher tolerance for forests. Within
the range of the Scaled Pheasant there exists some disparity also. It seems
variation in habitat has afforded variation in behavior, as pheasants of the prairie
prefer to make up their diet of crop and grain mostly, supplemented with
grasshoppers and crickets, while forest birds focus more heavily on mast crop,
with acorns composing a disproportionate bulk of their forage.
…
Most
mornings and most evenings in the east are punctuated with the crowing of the
male pheasant. His calls, meant to remind rival males of his territory, mating
rights, and his ability to defend them, serve also to bathe his realm in a sort
of aural identity, an echoing cry which provides the eastern country with a
character distinct from the west, pastoral, simulant of the roosters in
familiar barnyards.” – Native Birds of Novasola, 1912
“To
mark the occasion of Captain Dyer's birthday, he ordered a rest day, with no work required beyond
that which was necessary to maintain the camp and provide festivities. Among
others Misters Farr, Coble, and I were delegated the task of procuring meat for
the feast. We three opted not to travel with Mr. Peterson’s party, confident
our small group would see more success. Having seen no sign of big game for two
days, we chose hunt pheasants, or grouse, or quail, or truthfully any game we
should come across, expecting birds to be the only substantial quarry outside
our usual squirrels.
After
heading south for an hour, the country began to open up, with the pines first
giving way to drier deciduous cover which in turn gave way to shrubs and
grasses, until we were out of evergreen entirely and found ourselves in savannah,
open arid country of sparse oaks, arbutus, and silver-grass. Stalking through
the high grass was challenging for no reason beyond the myriad distractions
presented to me, in forms of new sounds and new sights Captain Dyer would
classify as “work”. I was however to glance three species yet undescribed, most
notably a woodpecker of dark color and ochre head. I shall be sure to return to this
area tomorrow for more exhaustive search. Lost in thought, I was unable to spot
the pair of Scaled Pheasants in the underbrush before me, and was thus considerably
disarmed by their sudden outburst of flight and missed my shot. Thankfully
other members of the party were not so ineffectual.
…
[The feast] was by civilian standards meek, but to the hearts of men weary and fatigued from months of cross-country travel, what meat and rations we had were a gift. The pheasant, tonight especially, made for good sport, and good eating.” – Expedition log, June 20, 1902