Ruffed The PB-l000™ , Portable Brooder Pheasants by Francis Billie . f~~h~g~a~~~~e<;B-~~.~9~, Temple City, California •0 ...... for conveniencewhen handfeeding birds. Part I Available inThree Sizes Z ofa two-part article (303) 223-7280 CD Origins ofthe Ruffed Pheasants THE FEATHER'SEDGE The two species in this genus, the 5901 Mercury Drive, Dept. AFA, Ft. Collins, Colorado 80525 Golden and the Lady Amherst's Pheasants, are among the most beau tiful and certainly the most popular ofall game birds. They have no close relatives. Those in captivity will readily cross with species found within phasianus, syr AviComp Announces... Easy-To-Use naticus, and lophura. These hybrids Avicultural Software for the Apple are only partly fertile. The Golden and Lady Amherst's Pheasants MacintsohTM interbreed freely in captivity. These crosses are completely fertile. Since the birds interbreed so readily, it is extremely doubtful any absolutely Curator of Birds manages, analyzes and derives pure specimens of either species remain in Europe or North America. informa~ion (in colorful graphic form) from taxonomic, bird, It was fashionable toward the end tra~sactlon, area, nesting, hatchability, fertility, incubation, bird e~g of the 19th Century, when the origi weIght, weight. and size, morbidity, medical, necropsy, intake, nal importation of these species took molt, pedIgree, envlTonmental, and daily note data. place, to produce exotic hybrids. This historical situation accounts for much Let's say you wanted to plot weights ofHyacinth Macaws, correlate of the impurity seen in the two weight changes with diet type and intake quantity, light cycle, molt species today. occurance, or temperature - or - Imow hatchability by species by incubation method in total and by yearfor the last ten years? Wild-Caught Birds Curator of.Birds ~enders thes.e questions moot - bringing them to the From time to time, wild-caught, leve.l ofpomts, c!Icks, and mmutes (often seconds). Curator of Birds male Golden Pheasants from Central retaI~s mformatlon about your collection, building a database of China still reach Hong Kong bird ~edical and hl;lsbandrx knowledge. If this enables you to save the markets. However, wild-caught females of the species are hardly ever hfe of ~NE a~mal o~ mcrease fecundity for one species the software obtainable. Wild-caught Lady has paId for Itself (m some cases many times over) and species Amherst's are very rarely seen in this survival outlooks are brightened. bird market. Cur~tor of Birds comes with over 100 Custom Reports - from pedIgrees, to fecundity analysis, to medical summaries. Custom Description rep~ms ca~ be run with simple points and clicks - or you can just as Male ruffed pheasants have a long, ea~I~Y deSIgn yo~r own reports and graphs with powerful report disintegrated crest. A large ruff of e~Itm~ and graphmg feat.ures. Search for, sort, export or import data wide feathers, starting from the nape, WIth SImple pomts and clIcks - no arcane or esoteric commands - no can be spread like a fan across either computer experience necessary. side of the head and neck. Tail: long, pointed and is composed of 18 retrices. Wings: short and rounded. Females: buff in color with dark For .more information about Curator of Birds, Hemalytic brown barring and virtually no crest (AVIan ~ematol?gical Analysis), or our Contract Progra~m~g S~rvices or ruff. Immature: resemble females, please contact AviComp at P.o. Box but are less heavily barred. Immatures 17184 CI~cmnat~, OH 45217, on Compuserve (72137,2317), or on AmerIca Online (AviComp). do not attain adult plumage until their second year. Males: show some colored feathers on the head neck and tail after their first moit. 'Eggs: five to 12 plain, whitish eggs are laid 26 June !July 1990 Marsh Farms INCUBATORS • FEATURING fully automatic turners. Adjustable temperature and humidity control.
in a clutch. It takes 22 to 23 days for with black. Wings-scapulars: metal the eggs to hatch. lic bluish-green, feathers rounded. Tail: central retrices, white, curved, Lady Amherst's Pheasant unbroken blue black bars with wavy (Cbrysolopbus amberstiae) lines on the interspaces. Upper tail: Lord Amherst first introduced this coverts mottled black and white, pheasant into Europe in the year orange and vermillion tips. Under 1828, by sending two male birds to tail: coverts black and dark green, London. These birds did not live barred with white. Tail feathers: long. It was not until 1869 that a few 33-7/8 to 45 inches in length. Legs, specimens were again brought into feet, thighs: mottled, white/black/ Europe. After several ups and downs, brown. Tarsus and feet: bluish gray. the number ofAmherst's Pheasants in Size: 50 to 66-112 inches. Europe increased steadily, as a result of the arrival of a few more speci Lady Amherst's Female ROLL-X mens from the wild and by successful Head: reddish chestnut, blackish Up to 209 eggs. breeding in captivity. barring on sides of head and neck. The Lady Amherst's Pheasant Neck: blackish-brown, spotted with adapted very quickly to life in an cinnamon buff. Strongly washed with aviary. The species soon proved to be reddish chestnut. Dark black barring just as easily maintained and repro with a greenish sheen. Face: buff, duced in captivity as the Golden strongly tinted with reddish chestnut. Pheasant. By comparison, the chicks Upper throat: buff, tinted with may be a little more sensitive and the reddish chestnut. Lores, cheeks, ear adult cocks somewhat more aggres coverts: silvery gray, spotted with sive. By and large, the Lady Amherst's black. Orbital skin: light slatey blue. has proved to be an ideal aviary bird. Beak: bluish gray. Iris: brown, some Describing these gorgeous birds so times pale yellow or grayish in older the pheasant fancier can distinguish hens. Body mantle - upper breast: between the pure and impure birds rufous buff, washed with reddish requires a rather elaborate description chestnut. Back: chestnut, vermicu of the colors. A comprehensive lated with black. Flankers: buff description of the birds can be found dark blackish barring. Breast: buff, in The New Pheasant Standard Book. dark blackish brown barring accented by a green sheen. Abdomen: pale Lady Amherst's Male buff, sometimes white. Wings: wing Head: has bare facial skin and coverts, tertiaries and secondaries, lappet bluish or greenish white. Ruff: rufous buff washed with reddish white, rounded feathers with blue chestnut, the barring is black with a and black border. Beak: bluish gray. green sheen. The bars closer together Iris: pale yellow. Body: mantle is than in the mantle. Tail: rufous, metallic, bluish green. Feathers brown. Feathers: rounded, not rounded, bordered with scintillating pointed at the tips and strongly green. Upper and middle back: marked with broad, irregular bars of black with a green bar and a wide, black, buff, and pale gray, vermicu buffy yellow fringe. lated with black. Length: 12-118 to MANUFACTURED BY Feathers: broad and square. 14-1/2 inches. Legs, feet and Rump: black with a green bar and thighs: buff, mottled brown and vermillion fringe. Breast: metallic black, while the legs and feet are a ~.r:~ bluish-green, black border. These bluish gray. 2765 MAIN STREET Dept'. W feathers, edged with a bright green, Size: length is 26 to 26-3/4 inches. CHULAVISTA,CA92011 U.S.A. are wider and brighter in color than Larger than the Golden hens. TELEPHONE: (619) 585-9900 the mantle. Lower breast: white, Tbe next issue of Watcbbird (Aug/ flanks white, tinged with pale yellow. Sept '90) will run Part II oftbis arti 1 WE ACCEPT ~ Abdomen: white. Vent: white barred cle d:iscussing tbe Golden Pbeasant.• :0 afa WATCHBIRD 27