JAPANESE GREEN: A TRUE SPECIES

Is the Japanese green pheasant merely a sub-species of the common pheasant?

The status of the Japanese green pheasant, Phasianus versicolor, has long been a contentious subject among scientists. The distinguished French ornithologist Dr Jean Delacour treated the two as distinct species in his classic work The Pheasants of the World. He based his decision on the fact the pheasants in Japan are entirely green on the mantle and under parts, and this “striking difference” made it appropriate to consider the Japanese birds as a distinct species to those of mainland Asia.

As a result, most subsequent authors have followed Delacour’s decision, despite the fact that Japanese (or green) pheasants are quite capable of producing fertile hybrids with common pheasants. The green pheasant is the national bird of Japan, and is widespread and common throughout the main islands of the Japanese archipelago. It is a popular quarry species, but only cocks may be shot. First brought to England by the Earl of Derby in 1840, green pheasants have been introduced to many countries, including North America and Hawaii. DT