Golden pheasant
Amazing fact
The female golden pheasant’s brown feathers provide camouflage while she warms her eggs.
池田動物園
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
The female golden pheasant’s brown feathers provide camouflage while she warms her eggs.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Golden pheasant
- Scientific name
- Chrysolophus pictus
- Japanese name
- キンケイ
- Group
- Birds
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Phasianidae
- Genus
- Chrysolophus
The male stands out with a golden crest, a cape of red-orange and black striped feathers on the back of the neck, and a long tail.
In the spring-to-summer breeding season, the male spreads his neck cape and tail to court the female. The female is brown with a shorter tail and looks plain.
How the Golden pheasant lives
It lives in pairs in scrub on rocky hills and slopes, and in bamboo groves. At woodland and farmland edges, it eats seeds, shoots, berries and small animals without backbones.
池田動物園Paignton ZooBasic data
- Size
- Total length: males 100–115 cm, females 61–70 cmWingspan: 65–75 cm
- Weight
- males 900–1,400 g, females 550–700 g
- Diet
- Insects, tree buds, seeds, and other foods
- Range
- China (Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Hubei)
Where the Golden pheasant has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- キンケイ
- 简体中文
- 红腹锦鸡
- 繁體中文
- 紅腹錦雞
- 한국어
- 금계
- Español
- Faisán dorado
- Français
- Faisan doré
- Deutsch
- Goldfasan
- Português (Brasil)
- Faisão-dourado
- Italiano
- Fagiano dorato
- العربية
- تدرج ذهبي
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Pegar emas
- Русский
- Золотой фазан
- Türkçe
- Altuni Sülün
- ไทย
- ไก่ฟ้าสีทอง
- বাংলা
- সোনালি মথুরা
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 上野動物園 — キンケイChecked: 2026-11-03
- 池田動物園 — キンケイChecked: 2026-11-05
- Paignton Zoo — Golden PheasantChecked: 2026-11-06
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeWhen you meet the Golden pheasant, look for this
- Look for the vivid red feathers on the male’s underparts.
Animals do different things from day to day, so you may not always see this.
Paignton ZooEXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Golden pheasant
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
RELATIVES
Others in Phasianidae
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