Editing Edwards's pheasant

{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Edwards's pheasant
| status = PEW
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 20 January 2025">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2024 |title=''Lophura edwardsi'' |volume=2024 |page=e.T45354985A249120158 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T45354985A249120158.en |access-date=20 January 2025}}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A1 
 | status2_system = CITES 
 | status2_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}</ref>
| image = Male_edwards'_pheasant.JPG
| image_caption = Male
| image2 = Lophura edwardsi.JPG
| image2_caption = Female, [[Bojnice Zoo|Zoo]] [[Bojnice]], [[Slovakia]]
| genus = Lophura
| species = edwardsi
| authority = ([[Émile Oustalet|Oustalet]], 1896)
}}
[[File:Lophura edwardsi MHNT.jpg|thumb|'' Lophura edwardsi'' – [[MHNT]]]]
'''Edwards's pheasant''' ('''''Lophura edwardsi''''') is a [[bird]] of the pheasant family [[Phasianidae]] and is [[Endemic (ecology)|endemic]] to the [[seasonal tropical forest]]s of central [[Vietnam]]. It is named after the French ornithologist [[Alphonse Milne-Edwards]] and first described to science in 1896.<ref>{{cite book|last=Beolens|first=Bo|title=Whose Bird?: Common Bird Names and the People They Commemorate|year=2004|publisher=Whose Bird?: Common Bird Names and the People They Commemorate|isbn=978-0-300-10359-5|author2=Michael Watkins|page=116}}</ref> The bird's length is {{convert|58|–|65|cm}}<ref name=":0">Birdlife International</ref> and has red legs and facial skin. The male is mainly blue-black with a crest, and the female is a drab brown bird. The alarm call is a ''puk!-puk!-puk!''.

There are two varieties; the nominate form ''L. e. edwardsi'' has a white crest and upper tail, whereas the northern form, usually called [[Vietnamese pheasant]], is found with a variable number of white rectrices. This difference in the two forms may be due to inbreeding of a restricted, fragmented population there, and has also been seen in captive, inbred ''L. edwardsi''.

In 2012 the nominate form of Edwards's pheasant have been uplisted to [[Critically Endangered]] by [[BirdLife International]], having suffered from [[deforestation]], hunting and the use of [[defoliant]]s during the [[Vietnam War]]. The population is currently believed to number between 50 and 249 birds in the wild, mostly of the nominate form, but it is doing well in captivity, where it is the subject of [[ex-situ conservation|''ex situ'' conservation]]. There have been no confirmed sightings of a living individual in the wild since 2000 and in 2010 the [[World Pheasant Association]] (WPA) received funding from the [[Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund]] to survey forests in the central Vietnam provinces of [[Quảng Bình Province|Quảng Bình]] and [[Quảng Trị Province|Quảng Trị]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Grainger|first=Matthew|title=One of our pheasant's is missing|date=6 September 2011 |url=http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=2876|publisher=Birdguides|access-date=1 November 2011}}</ref> It is considered possibly extinct in the wild as a result.<ref name="iucn status 20 January 2025"/>

== Taxonomy and systematics ==
Edwards's pheasant was first observed in 1896. Twenty-eight years later, another species of ''[[Lophura]]'', the Imperial pheasant (''[[Lophura imperialis]]''), was seen in the border area between Quang Binh and Quang Tri provinces.<ref name=":0" /> It was later proven to be a [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] between the Edwards's pheasant and the Silver pheasant (''[[Lophura nycthemera]]'').<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vietnam Pheasant (Lophura edwardsi) - BirdLife species factsheet |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/vietnam-pheasant-lophura-edwardsi |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=datazone.birdlife.org}}</ref> The [[Vietnamese pheasant]] (''Lophura hatinhensis''), formerly considered a distinct taxon, has now been shown to be a variant of Edward's pheasant caused by inbreeding due to small population size.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hennache |first1=A |last2=Mahood |first2=SP |last3=Eames |first3=JC |last4=Randi |first4=E |date=2012 |title=''Lophura hatinhensis'' is an invalid taxon |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289320430 |journal=Forktail |volume=28 |pages=129–135}}</ref>

== Description ==
Edwards pheasants have a body length of 58-65 cm, including the tail length, which is about 24-26 cm for males, and 20-22 cm for females. Males are heavier, with a weight between 1115-1100 g, and females around 1050 g. Males are all black, with a blue tint throughout their feathers. Females are generally chestnut-brown with no crest.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=McGowan |first1=Philip J. K. |last2=Kirwan |first2=Guy M. |last3=Christie |first3=David |date=2020 |title=Edwards's Pheasant (Lophura edwardsi), version 1.0 |url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/edwphe1/cur/introduction |journal=Birds of the World |language=en |doi=10.2173/bow.edwphe1.01|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Distribution and habitat ==
Edwards's pheasant is endemic to [[central Vietnam]] and has been found in four provinces ([[Ha Tinh]], [[Quang Binh]], [[Quang Tri]], and [[Thua Thien Hue]]). They live in evergreen forests with lots of palms and patches of bamboo. The birds often hide in the low vegetation, and females dig their nests in the grounds of these forests. Edward's pheasants do not commonly migrate because they are not affected by cold weather and can spend most winters outside.<ref name=":1" />

== Ecology ==

=== Song and call ===
Male birds have a wing-whirring sound. Their alarm call is a low guttural "uk uk uk uk uk", sometimes a hard "puk puk puk puk puk".<ref name=":1" />

=== Diet ===
Edward's pheasants have rarely been observed in the wild, so little is known about its behavior in its natural habitat.

An Edwards's pheasant at [[Denver Zoo]]’s diet consists of mealworms, chopped fruit, and greens, specially formulated game bird diet.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jake the Edwards's Pheasant |url=https://denverzoo.org/jake/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Denver Zoo |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Reproduction ===
Edward's pheasants usually breed between the months of March and May. Males push their chests, vibrate their wings, and erect the feathers on their backs to find their mate. Females can begin to breed after two years, while their maximum fertility is usually around ages 4-5.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=About Vietnam Pheasant |url=https://vietnampheasant.org/about-vietnam-pheasant.html |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=vietnampheasant.org}}</ref> On average, females lay between 4-7 eggs each time. The females make the nests well hidden and dug into the group, usually with plant debris and bamboo overtop.<ref name=":2" /> The female incubates eggs for around 20-22 days. However, the male remains stationed close to guard the bird. The eggs are round and have a faint pink color with dotted cream spots. Juveniles are primarily chestnut-brown.<ref name=":1" />

== Conservation status and management ==
''[[Lophura edwardsi]]'' was assessed for [[The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]] in 2018 and listed as [[Critically Endangered]]. It is one of the most endangered species of ''[[Galliformes]].'' Their population is decreasing, with 50-249 mature individuals right now, according to [[IUCN Red List]]. Any remaining subpopulations are likely to be extremely small and declining. They have not been spotted in the wild since the year 2000. Intense hunting and trapping, habitat loss due to herbicide spraying during the [[Vietnam War]], logging, and clearance for agriculture has significantly affected the population of this species. [[:vi:Khu_dự_trữ_thiên_nhiên_Động_Châu_–_Khe_Nước_Trong|Khe Nuoc Trong]], [https://mcnv.org/vi/tag/khu-bao-ton-thien-nhien-bac-huong-hoa/ Bac Huong Hoa], Phong Dien,<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=United States Agency for International Development |date=2018 |title=PHONG DIEN NATURE RESERVE |url=https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00TSDT.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624184314/https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00TSDT.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2021 |website=[[USAID]]}}</ref> and [[Kẻ Gỗ Nature Reserve|Ke Go]] are reserves where these birds could reside. [https://www.thiennhienviet.org.vn/ep/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/EP-ACTION-PLAN-FINAL-VIE-Ver_05-2015.pdf An Action Plan] was published for this species in 2015.

The Phong Điền Nature Reserve was initially designated to protect the Edward's pheasant after the rediscovery of the species in the area in 1996.<ref name=":3" /> In 2018, a photograph of a dead female Edwards's pheasant was taken in [[A Lưới District]], which includes part of [[Phong Điền District, Thừa Thiên-Huế Province|Phong Điền]]; this marked the first evidence of a wild Edwards's pheasant in almost two decades, and indicates that the species may still persist in the reserve.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-06-24 |title=Camera trap pics of rare species in Vietnam raise conservation hopes |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/camera-trap-pics-of-rare-species-in-vietnam-raise-conservation-hopes/ |access-date=2021-06-24 |website=Mongabay Environmental News}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

== References ==
* ''Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse'' by Madge and McGowan, {{ISBN|0-7136-3966-0}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.animalwonders.net/edwardspheasant.html Avicultural Data and Images]
*[http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=253&m=0 BirdLife Species Factsheet.]

{{Phasianidae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2854549}}

[[Category:Gallopheasants|Edwards's pheasant]]
[[Category:Endemic birds of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1896|Edwards's pheasant]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Émile Oustalet]]