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Extraordinary Pheasants
Fast on the feathers of his highly successful Extraordinary Chickens, Stephen Green-Armytage is back with a fascinating look at the stunningly ornate plumage and surprisingly expressive personalities of more than 70 different types of pheasants—peacocks included! Showcased in glorious full-color photographs are Long- tailed Mikados, Satyr Tragopans, Bornean Crested Firebacks—each looking more exotic than the next. A brief text offers an ideal introduction to the pheasant family and an annotated index of species follows the photos. Serious birders will treasure this unique volume, but anyone familiar with the peacock's magnificent fan of iridescent tail feathers will be amazed and amused by the complex shapes, shadings, and patterns of its many exotic cousins—not to mention the peacocks bred in bronze, purple, green, brown, emerald, and even pure white!
112 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 13, 2023
I think this was one of the very first reviews I ever wrote on GR. I bought this book because of a kind of strange encounter with these big and very beautiful birds in Kew Gardens Botanical Gardens in London.
My son and I were walking amid rockeries filled with low-growing shrubs and we noticed a really beautiful golden pheasant. My son, shushing me, moved very slowly up to where he could see it better. There were two birds and they seemed to be having an argument. It became apparent that the birds didn't care how close we got (we got to about 4' and stopped because of their long tail feathers) and continued with their heated discussion. They began to fight! Primary-coloured feather dusters flew up and down with lots of kicking and snipping and displaying of tails, it was very entertaining. But not just for us. Several very drab, brown females we hadn't noticed and several other cock pheasants were all watching the action.
When one of the pheasants had been trounced and walked off dragging his tail, the victor walked up to one of the females who we had been led by literature and documentaries to believe he would now be able to claim, but she turned round and walked off with her friend in the direction the loser had taken.
This reminds me of Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, a wonderful anthropologist and ethologist, who writes not from the accepted 'males are always dominant' viewpoint but from one where there is a lot more subtlety. It was she who enlightened me, in The Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture, I think, to the reality of the lion pride.
Eight or ten lionesses, daughters, sisters or cousins and hunters all, are unlikely to be taken over by any wandering male and his wingman just on his say-so. What does a male lion do most of the time - he babysits is what. A house-husband, babysits and screws the very demanding, multi-orgasmic females. If he isn't any good at those jobs, they have the muscle power to drive him off, and so they do. Yes he defends the pride from males looking to move in, but so do the females when they are without a male and the ones turning up are not to their fancy.
And so it is with pheasants as with lionesses as with women, it's who they fancy, not who fancies them.
__________
I loved this book so much, I got Extraordinary Chickens also beautiful, showy birds, with perhaps more character or at least more friendly to people.
Rewritten March 2023
My son and I were walking amid rockeries filled with low-growing shrubs and we noticed a really beautiful golden pheasant. My son, shushing me, moved very slowly up to where he could see it better. There were two birds and they seemed to be having an argument. It became apparent that the birds didn't care how close we got (we got to about 4' and stopped because of their long tail feathers) and continued with their heated discussion. They began to fight! Primary-coloured feather dusters flew up and down with lots of kicking and snipping and displaying of tails, it was very entertaining. But not just for us. Several very drab, brown females we hadn't noticed and several other cock pheasants were all watching the action.
When one of the pheasants had been trounced and walked off dragging his tail, the victor walked up to one of the females who we had been led by literature and documentaries to believe he would now be able to claim, but she turned round and walked off with her friend in the direction the loser had taken.
This reminds me of Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, a wonderful anthropologist and ethologist, who writes not from the accepted 'males are always dominant' viewpoint but from one where there is a lot more subtlety. It was she who enlightened me, in The Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture, I think, to the reality of the lion pride.
Eight or ten lionesses, daughters, sisters or cousins and hunters all, are unlikely to be taken over by any wandering male and his wingman just on his say-so. What does a male lion do most of the time - he babysits is what. A house-husband, babysits and screws the very demanding, multi-orgasmic females. If he isn't any good at those jobs, they have the muscle power to drive him off, and so they do. Yes he defends the pride from males looking to move in, but so do the females when they are without a male and the ones turning up are not to their fancy.
And so it is with pheasants as with lionesses as with women, it's who they fancy, not who fancies them.
__________
I loved this book so much, I got Extraordinary Chickens also beautiful, showy birds, with perhaps more character or at least more friendly to people.
Rewritten March 2023
March 9, 2023
Having loved the ‘Extraordinary Chickens’ book, buying this one was a no-brainer. While the pheasant book did not excite me quite as much as the chicken one (mainly because the chickens all look amazingly ridiculous and comedic, while the pheasants tend to be in serious poses) – the book is also a 5 star read.
If you doubt the beauty of pheasants, just be aware that peacocks are pheasants (a rather pleasant shock for me). What we normally think of as a PEACOCK, is more technically just one species – the Indian Blue Peacock. There are also gorgeous white, green, black shouldered, silver pied … peacocks. The other pheasants are also beautiful, though maybe not in possession of such magnificent tails.
The book is mainly photos, but there is also some written information about the genus. Because of their relatively small wings, they do not migrate, and their worldwide spread is more down to human carriage rather than fowl exploration.
There are two wonderful pages just showing close-ups of the many varied coloured feather patterns – one page of the smaller pheasants and one of the peacocks with their amazing eyes.
Mainly male birds are shown, as they are the more colourful and extravagant, but there are a few drabber hens photographed too.
Another lovely book to have and hold.
If you doubt the beauty of pheasants, just be aware that peacocks are pheasants (a rather pleasant shock for me). What we normally think of as a PEACOCK, is more technically just one species – the Indian Blue Peacock. There are also gorgeous white, green, black shouldered, silver pied … peacocks. The other pheasants are also beautiful, though maybe not in possession of such magnificent tails.
The book is mainly photos, but there is also some written information about the genus. Because of their relatively small wings, they do not migrate, and their worldwide spread is more down to human carriage rather than fowl exploration.
There are two wonderful pages just showing close-ups of the many varied coloured feather patterns – one page of the smaller pheasants and one of the peacocks with their amazing eyes.
Mainly male birds are shown, as they are the more colourful and extravagant, but there are a few drabber hens photographed too.
Another lovely book to have and hold.
December 31, 2022
We recently visited a tropical venue where we were greeted by what I thought was a colorful chicken on our patio. It didn’t seem domesticated though and scurried off into the jungle never to be seen again during our stay. I since learned that the bird may have been a red jungle fowl or one of his decedents. I was curious and read Extraordinary Pheasants to learn more about our shy, but lovely greeter. Extraordinary Pheasants has stunning photography and fascinating notes about these beautiful birds and their cousins, pheasants and peacocks. What was troubling is that many of these species, but not all, are endangered in the wild. What a wonderful world in which we live. So much here to love and appreciate, but at the same time, so much we need to do.
September 23, 2021
Beautiful book!
June 3, 2014
Great photo book about the Phasianidae family of birds, which includes the common pheasant as well as more exotic or rarer species, but also peacocks, jungle fowl (ancestors to our modern hens and rooster) and others.
Dozens of species are presented with pictures and a paragraph giving info about physical specificities, habitat, conservation status and creation of subspecies by human selection.
Dozens of species are presented with pictures and a paragraph giving info about physical specificities, habitat, conservation status and creation of subspecies by human selection.
Want to Read
July 27, 2016They are very extraordinary.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews