The Blood Pheasant will get its title from the crimson-colored streaks on its physique – which apparently to some reasonably bizarre or overly imaginative individuals seem like blood.
The Latin species title cruentus, “blood-stained” has the identical background
Blood Pheasants primarily feed on mosses – not many fowl species do that as mosses usually are not very nutritious. But it surely will get them a paper within the Journal of Bryology (bryology is the research of mosses and liverworts – I can’t fake I knew this earlier than scripting this put up).
Once I confirmed a photograph of the Blood Pheasant to a German hunter, he complained that this pheasant has “no tail”. And eBird calls it a “chunky partridgelike pheasant” – identical gist, I suppose.
In winter, Blood Pheasants type flocks which might be comparatively harmonious inside however might struggle with different flocks.
One paper recognized the variety of flocks of their analysis space “by tracing their tracks within the snow”. Very Cowboys and Indians.
What are their standards for choosing actual property? Apparently, they like positions decrease within the slopes, a bit additional away from water, with sparse and low shrubbery, and half-sunny, half-gloomy gentle. Fairly selective. The paper describing this then daringly means that these preferences may be associated to meals availability.
One of many threats to the Blood Pheasant comes from overgrazing by cattle. So, researchers seemed on the habitat use of Blood Pheasants as associated to the presence of livestock. To their shock, they discovered a optimistic correlation between the presence of blood pheasants and livestock within the breeding season, which they then kind of defined away by citing “comparable habitat preferences”.
Blood Pheasants are monogamous, and so they appear to have some kind of work-sharing association. Properly, the feminine (proven beneath) does all of the incubation (supply) …
… whereas the male spends extra time watching out for potential risks throughout pre-incubation and incubation, permitting the feminine to spend extra time on feeding, preening, and dusting (supply).
Throughout incubation, the females sometimes depart the eggs as soon as per day for a period of about 7 hours (supply), throughout which the temperature of the eggs drops to beneath 10 levels Celsius for just a few hours. This doesn’t appear to harm the event of the chicks.
And sure, there’s a paper on the whole mitochondrial genome of blood pheasant. Yawn.
To finish the put up, I like to recommend listening to “Blood Soup” by Yeah Yeah Noh. Most likely not containing Blood Pheasant blood, although. However an excerpt from “Practice to Kansas Metropolis”, a track additionally lined by the Store Assistants. Or if you happen to like Kansas Metropolis however dislike trains, you’ll be able to take heed to “Kansas Metropolis” by Okkervil River. Or – in case your preferences go in the wrong way – select “Not in Kansas” by The Nationwide. This track mentions R.E.M., so the final hyperlink right here is to “Oh My Coronary heart“.
