Lady Amherst's pheasant

Aviary + cover plants

≈ 100 sq ft aviary / pair, 6 ft tall

Lady Amherst's Pheasants are slim Tibetan woodland pheasants with extraordinarily long tails. A welfare minimum is 100 sq ft of aviary per pair, ≥ 6 ft tall, with dense cover plants, multiple raised perches, a half-roofed shelter, grit, calcium, clean water, and ½ in hardware cloth.

Planted woodland aviary

≈ 150 sq ft aviary / pair, 8 ft tall

A 150 sq ft per pair planted aviary, ≥ 8 ft tall (to accommodate the cock's 3 ft tail), with dense cover, varied perches, and a half-roofed shelter gives Lady Amhersts room to forage, court, and roost. Tail damage from wire or low perches is the #1 welfare issue — height and clear perch paths matter.

Woodland walk-in aviary

≥ 250 sq ft walk-in aviary / pair

A walk-in woodland aviary of 250+ sq ft per pair, planted with native shrubs and a 9 ft minimum height, is the welfare ideal. Provide high broad roosts, dust-baths, hidden nest cover, and visual barriers between rival males — the long tail and shy temperament both reward careful, naturalistic housing.

Birds develop inside a hard-shelled egg incubated by the parent(s). Egg size, shell color, and clutch size vary by species; the embryo develops over days to weeks before hatching.

Hatchlings are either altricial — naked, blind, and dependent on parents (typical of parrots and songbirds) — or precocial — downy, mobile, and self-feeding soon after hatching (typical of poultry and waterfowl). Down gives way to the first feathers.

Fledglings grow in their juvenile plumage and begin to fly and feed themselves, though they may still beg from parents at first. Juvenile feathering is often duller than the adult and is replaced as the bird matures.

Adults attain full body size and mature plumage, and are capable of breeding. Many species show distinct adult coloration, and in sexually dimorphic birds males and females differ in plumage, size, or markings.