Dapple Grey
Tartan of the Day
Jul 11
Click the tartan to view its entry in The Scottish Registers of Tartans which includes registration details, restrictions, and registrant information.
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Bird Day
"The world has different owners at sunrise... Even your own garden does not belong to you. Rabbits and blackbirds have the lawns; a tortoise-shell cat who never appears in daytime patrols the brick walls, and a golden-tailed pheasant glints his way through the iris spears."
~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906-2001)
If you are a birder or bird fancier, you have many choices of tartan to don yourself in kinship with the tartan equivalent of beautiful plumage!
The Golden Pheasant, also known as the Chinese Pheasant, is native to the mountainous forests of Western and Central China. Living in dense woodland and steep terrain, it is most often glimpsed in brief flashes of colour before disappearing back into cover, lending it an air of rarity and quiet presence.
The male’s plumage is dominated by gold, red, and green, with a distinctive golden crest edged in red and a long, pale, barred tail. These tones are echoed in this design through warm golden yellows, deep reds, and grounding earth colours, balanced by softer neutrals.
During the breeding season, the male performs a striking courtship display, spreading his neck feathers forward over his head and beak like a cape.
In folklore, the golden pheasant has long been associated with light, prosperity, refinement, and moral harmony. In Chinese tradition, pheasants were admired for their dignity and beauty and were often linked with virtue, learning, and high rank.
The golden pheasant’s brilliance, balanced by its reserved nature, came to represent the idea that true beauty and good fortune are not constant displays, but moments that appear quietly and briefly to those who are attentive enough to notice them. 🤎 💛 💚 ❤️ 🤍 🪶 🪶 🪶
Bird Day aims to raise awareness of the plights faced by common and rare birds, from disease and environmental factors to illegal trade and welfare in captivity.
The golden pheasant or Chinese pheasant, (Chrysolophus pictus) is a gamebird native to forests in mountainous areas of western China, but feral populations have been established in the United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Falkland Islands, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
Despite the male's showy appearance, these birds are difficult to spot in their natural habitat, the dense, dark young conifer forests with sparse undergrowth. Consequently, little is known about their behaviour in the wild.
They feed on the ground on grain, leaves and invertebrates but roost in trees at night. While they can fly, they prefer to run. And if startled, they can suddenly burst upwards at great speed and with a distinctive wing sound.
In Britain, the golden pheasant was introduced to many areas for ornament and as a game bird. Populations remain strong in the Breckland of Norfolk, with populations persisting on Anglesey, in Dumfries and Galloway and on Brownsea Island, Dorset.
For more on the pheasant, click his portrait.