Green Pheasant
Phasianus versicolor
male - Highland, Scotland - April 2011
Captive-bred Green Pheasants are sometimes released into the wild in Britain by the gamekeepers of some shooting estates.
male - Highland, Scotland - April 2011
It is very closely related to the Ring-necked Pheasant (P. colchicus) and is sometimes considered conspecific by some authorities due to their propensity to hybridise where the two forms co-exist. However, in natural circumstances the two species are geographically isolated with Green Pheasant being endemic to Japan, where it is the national bird.
male - Highland, Scotland - April 2011
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