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Books about Pheasants

The books are listed in order of publication date with the most recent at the top.


Pheasants

Family: Phasianidae
Subfamily: Phasianinae

In the UK

(Common) Pheasant
Phasianus colchicus

Golden Pheasant
Chrysolophus pictus

Lady Amherst's Pheasant
Chrysolophus amherstiae

Other pheasants

There are over 40 other species of pheasants worldwide.

 

Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse: Including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and their Allies

Steve Madge and Phil MacGowan

Illustrations: Norman Arlott, Robin Budden, Daniel Cole, John Cox, Carl D'Silva, Kim Franklin and David Mead

Helm

2002

"A comprehensive guide to over 250 species of pheasants, partridges, quails, grouse, turkeys, guineafowl, buttonquails and sandgrouse. This book is primarily an identification guide focusing on identification details and description. The text provides information on identification, description, geographical variation, voice, status, habitat and behavior, distribution, movements and conservation issues. 72 color plates show male, female, juvenile, and subspecies plumages. There is a colour distribution map for each species. A glossary and bibliography are provided."

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Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse: Including Buttonquails, Sandgrouse and their Allies

Steve Madge and Phil MacGowan

Illustrations: Norman Arlott, Robin Budden, Daniel Cole, John Cox, Carl D'Silva, Kim Franklin and David Mead

Princeton University Press

2002

"This guide brings together, for the first time within a single volume, a comprehensive review of all the world's pheasants, partridges, quails, grouse, turkeys, guineafowl, buttonquails, sandgrouse, and the enigmatic Plains-wanderer - over 250 species in all. The group includes some of the world's most familiar and beautiful birds, such as the Indian peafowl and the stunning tragopans, as well as some of the rarest and most threatened. This book concentrates on detailed identification and distribution, but also highlights conservation issues where relevant. The seventy-two color plates, by leading bird illustrators, show male, female, juvenile, and subspecies plumages, and form the finest set of illustrations of these birds to date. There is also a color distribution map for each species."

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Extraordinary Pheasants

Stephen Green-Armytage

Harry N. Abrams

2002

"The author and photographer who brought Abrams Extraordinary Chickens (now in its fourth printing) is back with another singular and charming book. With gorgeous color photographs and informative text, Stephen Green-Armytage turns his attention to the pheasant family, capturing with his camera pheasants of all sizes, shapes, and colors and illuminating gorgeous feather patterns and other decorative details worthy of French fabric designers. The varieties included range from the noble Ringneck pheasant, so popular with hunters, to the gorgeous Congo peacock. Breeders and enthusiasts will find this volume a treasure they must own; for others it will be a revelation, worth having for the sheer enjoyment of the striking photographs and the amazing birds they portray."

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Pheasants: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan 2000-2004

Compiled by Richard A Fuller and Peter J. Garson

IUCN

2000

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The Pheasants of the World: Biology and Natural History

Paul A. Johnsgard

Illustrations: Joseph Wolf

Smithsonian Books

2nd Edition

1999

"Among the most important of all bird groups, pheasants account for the most abundant domesticated species (the domestic fowl), the most extensively hunted upland game bird (the common pheasant), and some of the most spectacularly beautiful of all large birds (the giant argus). This lavishly illustrated volume gives up-to-date information on the distribution, status, and biology of all 49 species, with special attention paid to those that are vulnerable, rare, or threatened. Including range maps and identification keys, The Pheasants of the World is a comprehensive reference not only for ornithologists and conservationists seeking to ensure the survival of the group, but also for aviculturists and others who want to better understand the nature of these splendid birds."

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Pheasants

Peter Robertson

Voyageur Press

1997

"This is an invaluable, easy-to-read reference on pheasants that provides the most current information on how pheasants live, their distinctive and unusual breeding behavior, and the habitats in which they fare best. Peter Robertson offers a complete exploration of pheasants worldwide, based largely upon the pioneering studies that he and his colleagues have undertaken since 1980. You're sure to benefit from his thorough practical guidance and important insights."

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Pheasants: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan 1995-1999

Compiled by Philip J.K. McGowan and Peter J. Garson

IUCN

1995

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Cheng and the Golden Pheasant: A Biography of China's Leading Ornithologist

Q-R Yang

Illustrations: Joseph Wolf

Hancock House / World Pheasant Association

1995

A translation of a biography of a leading Chinese ornithologist.

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A Monograph Of The Pheasants, Vols I and II

William Beebe

Dover Publications Inc

1991

A single volume reprint of the first two volumes of the 1922 work.

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A Monograph Of The Pheasants, Vols III and IV

William Beebe

Dover Publications Inc

1991

A single volume reprint of the last two volumes of the 1922 work.

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The Pheasant: Ecology, Managements and Conservation

David Hill and Peter Robertson

Illustrations: Joseph Wolf

Wiley-Blackwell

1988

"A monograph on the most widely distributed gamebird in the world, written from scientific evidence from a number of countries but concentrating on the authors own intensive research, showing population processes, habitat selection, seasonal changes in their ecology, and discussing the importance to the fabric of the countryside. The past, present and future prospects of conservation management in its broadest context are investigated."

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The Pheasant

P.A. Robertson

Shire Natural History

1988

A study of the ecology and behaviour of the Pheasant.

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Pheasants: Symptoms of Wildlife Problems on Agricultural Lands

Diana L. Hallett, William R. Edwards, George V. Burger

North Central Section Wildlife

1988

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The Pheasants of the World: Biology and Natural History

Paul A. Johnsgard

Illustrations: Joseph Wolf

Oxford University Press

1st Edition

1986

"This book gives up-to-date information on the distribution, status, and biology of all the 49 extant species of pheasants. Special attention is paid to the staus of vulnerable, rare and threatened species."

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A Guide To The Pheasants of the World

Philip Wayre, J.C. Harrison

Country Life

1969

Includes 31 colour plates.

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Pheasants in North America

Editor: Durward L. Allen

Stackpole Books

1956

490 pages with many b/w plates, drawings and maps plus a colour frontispiece from a painting by Bob Hines.

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The Pheasants of the World

Jean Delacour

Illustrations: J.C. Harrison

Allen / Scribner

1951

Uncertain of original publication details. Has been republished a number of times since 1951.

An account of the 49 extant species of pheasants. Includes colour and black and white illustrations and distribution maps.

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A Monograph Of The Pheasants

Volume IV

William Beebe

Colour plates: G.E. Lodge, L.A. Fuertes, A. Thorburn, H. Grönvold, C. R. Knight

Photographs: William Beebe, D. Seth Smith

Published under the auspices of the New York Zoological Society by Witherby and Co

1922

Published in four volumes.

Opening lines:

"GOLDEN PHEASANTS. The Golden and the Amherst Pheasants form a very natural genus, well isolated and demarcated from the others of this family. Linnaeus placed the species, with which he was acquainted, in the all-inclusive genus Phasianus, and although they have since rightly been separated, yet it is probable that in any linear classification, unnatural though it be, the two groups would come rather near together. These pheasants are small in comparison with the general run of their allies, and the sexes are very unlike in appearance. The two known species are closely related, and offer an excellent illustration of differentiation of pattern and colour, while structurally they are almost identical. This is not by any means invariably the case with other birds, and in many instances the apparently evanescent phenomenon of pigmentation outlasts and outvalues changes in actual structure and dimensions of feathers and other tissues. The presence or absence of feathering on the face is almost the only structural difference between these species. The males have elongated stiffened crests, and a very remarkable cape, specialized both as to musculature, structure and pigment. The tail-feathers are long and slightly arched, and the entire plumage shows a very high degree of specialization of colour. As is so often true, it is impossible to indicate which is the more ancestral type. That vanished form probably lay midway, the two descendants each developing specialization in different parts of the plumage. For instance, while the pure white of the Amherst's cape is far more of an extreme specialization than the orange of the Golden, yet the barbless extremities of the feathers of the latter are specializations of an extremely high order."

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A Monograph Of The Pheasants

Volume III

William Beebe

Colour plates: G.E. Lodge, L.A. Fuertes, H. Jones, H. Grönvold, C. R. Knight, E. Megargee

Photographs: William Beebe, General A.C. Bailward, Dwight Huntington, Douglas Carruthers, Roy C. Andrews, W.R. Price

Published under the auspices of the New York Zoological Society by Witherby and Co

1922

Published in four volumes.

Opening lines:

"KOKLASS PHEASANTS. The Koklass Pheasants are birds of medium size, and impossible to place with any certainty in a linear scheme of classification. They show traces of resemblance to several groups, and in spite of the moderate length of tail of the cocks, perhaps come as close to the genus Syrmaticus as I have defined it, as to any other. The syrinx is extremely close to that of Phasianus. The head in both sexes is entirely feathered. The male has an elongated crest, and, owing to the posterior portion being of a different colour and sprouting rather densely behind the ear-coverts, this portion has been considered to be more of the nature of ear-tufts than a crest. This posterior crest, however, on examination is seen to extend clear across the occiput. The crest in the female is shorter. Most of the body feathers are lanceolate. The tail consists of sixteen feathers, and is extremely graduated and wedge-shaped ; the middle pair are slightly the longest, and about twice as long as the outer pair. The tail-coverts simulate the tail itself in their colour, great length and gradation. The wings appear exceedingly long and pointed for a pheasant, owing to the fact that the primaries extend well beyond the secondaries when the wing is closed. The I St primary is considerably longer than the 2nd, which is about equal to the 8th ; the 4th is slightly the longest of the series. The tarsus is slightly longer than the middle toe and claw."

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A Monograph Of The Pheasants

Volume II

William Beebe

Colour plates: G.E. Lodge, H. Grönvold, C. R. Knight

Photographs: William Beebe

Published under the auspices of the New York Zoological Society by Witherby and Co

1921

Published in four volumes.

Opening lines:

"KALEEGE PHEASANTS. This group is the largest component of the old genus Euplocamus, which formerly included Diardigallus, Lophura and Acomus. It seems to me to consist of two well-marked subgenera, Gennaeus and Hierophasis, the former with seven species, the latter with two. The species most familiar to those who keep pheasants or have opportunity of visiting collections is doubtless the Silver Pheasant, or Kaleege. One of the native names throughout the East is Kaleege or Kalij, and I have chosen to use this to characterize the pheasants of this genus. The least specialized type of Kaleege Pheasant is quite fowl-like, especially as to shape of body and carriage of the tail, the latter consisting of sixteen feathers, laterally compressed. These are strongly graduated in order from without inward, the central pair being the longest, and at least three times the length of the outer- most. There is great variation in the actual and relative length of the tail as a whole."

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A Monograph Of The Pheasants

Volume I

William Beebe

Colour plates: A. Thorburn, G.E. Lodge, H. Grönvold, C. R. Knight

Photographs: William Beebe

Published under the auspices of the New York Zoological Society by Witherby and Co

1918

Published in four volumes.

From the introduction:

"The readers of such a monograph as this, are attracted either because of the pleasure they find in the beauty and grace of pheasants; from the interest of keeping them in captivity or on preserves; from the enthusiasm of a sportsman; or for reference in ornithological research. With this in mind, I have arranged the text so as to afford equal facility to all these varied interests. The natural history of the pheasants is the dominant theme; their wild life and the part they play in the scheme of nature in their Asiatic haunts. Hence I have striven to put this phase to the fore in the cases both of general and specific treatment. In the present volume I have written a brief synoptic account of pheasants as a whole, reserving the details of their care in captivity for a chapter in the final volume. In treating of the various species, a brief description of the adult birds precedes each account, the more intimate details of plumage, moult and variation, together with the synonomy being readily accessible at the end of each species monograph. In the preparation of any work of a monographic character, there comes to the writer, sooner or later, the feeling that his part in it is small indeed compared to the great company of others who have aided him. From the philosopher who passed away many decades ago but whose written word is still an inspiration, to the naked Dyak who proudly comes bearing a trapped bird to Tuan - a gift not for money, but as from one hunter to another - between these extremes there extends a long roll whose aid is given freely and for sheer love of the wilderness folk."

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Pheasants In Covert And Aviary

Frank Townend Barton

Four colour plates from life by H. Grönvold and thirty seven other illustrations

John Long Limited

1912

From the preface:

It will, I think, be admitted by all readers of this work, that very little excuse need be offered for its introduction to the public, or rather to those interested in matters appertaining to Pheasants, either for the Covert or for the Aviary, a title to which the present publication answers. It is somewhat surprising to note the small amount of literature that has appeared in volume form concerning Pheasants and their general management. As far as the writer is aware, there are only one or two manuals published relating to a description of the Phasianidae and their management, the most notable book being Elliot's valuable Monograph on the Phasianidae, a work that now approaches three figures to purchase it. Be this as it may, the Author is confident in believing that the task he has undertaken will find adequate reward by giving such information as may be useful to those engaged in preservation of Pheasants - in fact, to all sporting men interested in this the Prince of Birds.
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The Natural History Of British Game Birds

J.G. Milais

Plates: J.G. Millais, Archibald Thorburn

Longmans Green & Co

1909

From the introduction: "The Natural History of the British Surface-feeding Ducks was so successful that I have been encouraged to produce the present work on Game Birds on similar lines, but I trust with superior reproductions. Our birds of the chase are a subject of perennial interest both to sportsmen and naturalists, and I have endeavoured to bring all that is known about them up to date, as well as to add much fresh material regarding the habits, plumages, hybrids, and varieties of a group of which I have made a special study for many years. Again I have had the great assistance of my friend Mr. Archibald Thorburn, whose work amongst his particular family of birds needs no eulogy on my part. It is sufficient to say that his paintings of gallinaceous birds have never been, nor are likely to be, surpassed in our generation."

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Catalogue Of The Game Birds (Pterocletes, Gallinae, Opisthocomi, Hemipodii) In The Collection Of The British Museum

Catalogue Of The Birds In The British Museum, Volume XXII

W.R. Ogilvie-Grant

Colour plates: J.G. Keulemans (4), J. Smit (4)

Printed By Order Of The Trustees

Sold by: Longman & Co.; B. Quaritch; Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.; and at the British Museum (Natural History)

1893

Preface:

"The present volume treats of four Orders of Birds, constituting the greater bulk of what are commonly termed Game Birds. The numbers of species described and of specimens at present in the Collection are as follows: Pterocletes, 17; Gallinie, 384; Opisthocomi, 1; Hemipodii, 24. In the first category those forms are included to which, in the author's opinion, no higher than subspecific rank should be assigned; only 23 of these species and subspecies are still unrepresented in the Collection. Beside the 102 types of recognized species the Collection contains 50 other typical specimens which are now considered identical with previously named species."
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A Monograph of the Phasianidae or Family of the Pheasants

Daniel Giraud Elliot

Colour plates: Joseph Wolf, Joseph Smit, J.G. Keulemans

Published by the author

1872

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Last updated August 2013