The blue eared pheasant (Crossoptilon auritum) has stiff white ear coverts behind the eyes, which look like a moustache, and a tail of 24 elongated bluish-grey feathers which is curved, loose, and dark-tipped. Part of the Phasianidae family, this dark blue-grey pheasant has a velvet black crown, red facial feathers appearing as bare skin, yellow iris, and crimson legs. Sexes are similar with the male being slightly larger. Found throughout mountain forests of central China, its diet consists mainly of berries and vegetable matter. It is one of the four species that belong to the genus Crossoptilon – the white eared, Tibetan eared, Brown eared, and blue eared.
See also: Brown eared pheasant, White eared pheasant
