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The Szechuan White-eared Pheasant (Crossoptilon crossoptilon crossoptilon) is a galliform bird native to the Szechuan region of China. It is a subspecies of
White-eared Pheasant (Crossoptilon crossoptilon).
The bird is predominantly white including, as its name suggests, white ears, but is not
as white in as many places of its body as its close relatives the Tibetan White-eared Pheasant (Crossoptilon crossoptilon
drouyni) and the Yunnan White-eared Pheasant (Crossoptilon crossoptilon lichiangnse). It has black tail feathers
and wingtips and as well as a patch of black at the top of its head. The primary feathers range from dark grey to brown. The part
of its face not covered by feathers has red skin.
The Szechuan White-eared Pheasant will not mate until it is two years old, then it will go into a heated breeding frenzy
around the end of April. The breeding will last until June and these pheasants will produce about 4 to 7 eggs per clutch. The
incubation period for their eggs is 24-25 days.
Although there is not much sexual dimorphism among the Szechuan White-eared Pheasant, the cocks are considerably larger than
the hens.
Szechuan White-eared Pheasants have now become a vulnerable species. Encroaching on its habitat in agricultural China has
reduced the range of the species, and hunting of these pheasants for a variety of
delicious Szechuan dishes have threatened their numbers severely.
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