Green Pheasant

The Green Pheasant is a large, ground-dwelling gamebird endemic to the Japanese archipelago. The male is unmistakable: glossy dark-green plumage covers the breast and body, while the face bears bare red skin and the tail is long and barred. The smaller female is mottled brown, providing camouflage among dry grass and low vegetation. Taxonomic treatments differ over whether it is separate from the closely related Common Pheasant (Wikipedia, general species account).

Green Pheasants forage on the ground for seeds, shoots, fruit and small animals, usually keeping close to grass, farmland edges and scrub that provide cover. They nest on the ground, where the female lays a clutch of six to fifteen eggs and performs the incubation. The species is native to Japan and remains a familiar bird of open rural landscapes, although it often stays concealed until flushed (Wikipedia, general species account).