GOSAI KIJI
Japanese or Green Pheasant
Phasianus versicolor
The Green Pheasant is the national bird of its native Japan, though its range includes Asia and western Europe. It is common throughout Japan, except for the island of Yezo, and is the most popular game bird in Japan. The Green Pheasant is sometimes classified as a sub-species of the Common Pheasant. The species was introduced to Hawaii, and to the United States as a game bird.
It lives in light wooded areas near meadows and farm fields with nearby grassy or brushy areas in which to sleep and hide. Its diet consists of grains, seeds, berries, insects, worms, grass, leaves, buds and fruit. Smaller than many other pheasants, the Green Pheasant is well adapted to cold temperatures.
It is a wary bird and will noisily fly straight up into the air when startled. The call is a harsh crowing ko-kuk, emitted with its head pointed straight up, and a rapid kuk-uk, kuk-uk, kuk-uk, kuk-uk when startled.
One male pheasant will often have several females in his flock, defending them and his territory from other males in savage fights. The females are a lighter and duller color than are the males, enabling them to hide while raising chicks.
Breeding occurs from April to early June, beginning when the birds are a year old. In nests hidden in shallow depressions in tall grass or under brush, the hen lays eight to fifteen olive colored eggs which hatch in about twenty-four days. The female tends the eggs and chicks alone while the male defends them from any intrusions.
In Japanese folklore the pheasant is a messenger of the gods and symbolizes thoughts, emotions and the soul.
Read Little Peachling, a Japanese folktale involving a pheasant.
Take home a Japanese Pheasant!
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sources:
Green Pheasant
Common Pheasant
Hogle Zoo
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