Races:
Phasianus colchicus turcestanicus Lorenz, 1896
Phasianus colchicus mongolicus Brandt, 1845

No Synonyms

Description

Common, in places rare resident. Inhabits riparian forests and reed-beds with bushes on plain rivers and lakes, and deciduous forest with bush tickets in mountains up to 1800 m, and in 2003 even recorded in Bolshoye Almatinskoye lake, 2500 m. Males begin to utter mating call in February, but mostly in March. Each one attracts on the territory several females. Nest is built under bush or grass on ground from grass leaves. Clutches of 8-24 eggs laid in April – mid-June. Repeated breeding after loss of nest took place often. Female incubates from last egg during 22-26 days and cares for chicks, which hatch in end of May – mid-June mostly. At autumn and winter they live in flocks (up to more than one hundred birds) and sometimes disperse, up to 200 km of breeding places. Note. In 1972-1973 near 300 birds successfully introduced close Almaty from Tokmak (Chu valley, Kyrgyzstan) and now it dispersed widely, including mountains and nearby deserts.

Races

Common Pheasant( Phasianus colchicus turcestanicus )

Phasianus colchicus turcestanicus Lorenz, 1896 Back, especially upper back, rather intensive coppery-red colour with weak green shine. Feathers on crop and upper breast with purple shade and usually without black terminal borders or they poorly developed. White collar usually not closed in front. Rump and upper tail coverts more intensively red, head less bronze-green, back with less developed green shade than mongolicus. Common breeding on Syrdarya valley. Three birds recorded 7 September 2002 on lover reaches of Sarysu river, subspecies not identified.

Common Pheasant( Phasianus colchicus mongolicus )

Phasianus colchicus mongolicus Brandt, 1845 Back, especially upper back, rather intensive rich coppery-red colour with well developed green shade. Feathers on crop and upper breast with green shade and usually with underdeveloped, sometimes absent, picture from black terminal borders. Rump and upper tail coverts less red, head more bronze-green, back with more developed green shade than turcestanicus. White collar usually not closed in front, better developed than turcestanicus. Breeding in Chu river valley, at Balkhash-Alakol' and Zaysan depressions, where recorded in middle of XIX century and in 1983 only re-introdused here. At last years settles to west (Chu-Iliyskiye Mts., Zhetyzhol ridge) and in 1998 appears at Chokpak Pass and upper reach of Arys river (basin of Syrdarya river), where it becoming common now.

References

Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005
Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". Алматы, 1999.