THE ANIMAL FILES

Bulwer's pheasant

Lophura bulweri

A white tail and blue wattles transform a forest bird’s display.

Bulwer’s pheasant lives in Borneo’s forests. Males have a long white tail and blue facial wattles; predominantly brown females look markedly different. During display, the male spreads the tail and extends the wattles.[1][4][3]

Follow the evidence ↓
Bulwer's pheasant
Image: desertnaturalist · Commons · CC BY 4.0
Native island
Borneo[1][4]
Male feature
Long curved white tail and blue facial wattles[3]
Female feature
Brown plumage with blue facial skin[4][3]

The sexes need separate descriptions

A male has a conspicuous white tail and blue facial skin against darker plumage, while the female is predominantly brown. This strong sexual difference means two accurate photographs can look dissimilar.[4][3]

A forest setting with a mixed menu

Bulwer’s pheasants live in Borneo’s hill and lower montane forests. They eat fruits, worms and insects, using several kinds of forest food rather than relying on one specialised item.[1]

Posture changes what a viewer sees

The Sarawak forest authority describes a male display in which the wattles extend and the tail is raised and spread. A resting outline and a display outline can therefore differ without implying another species.[3]

A COMMON MIX-UP

Must every Bulwer’s pheasant have the male’s long white tail?

No. Males and females differ strongly in appearance. A female’s brown plumage is part of the same species’ variation, not an imperfect version of the showy male or proof of a mistaken photograph.[3]

TRY A LITTLE REASONING

Why compare a bird before and during a display?

Reveal the explanation

Extending wattles and spreading a tail change the visible outline. Comparing both moments helps separate a temporary behaviour from a fixed anatomical difference, which is especially useful when interpreting dramatic animal photographs.[3]

Sources & editorial notes

Adapted and translated from the cited Wikipedia revisions, with source-linked reasoning. Image credit and licence are listed separately above.

Adapted and translated from Wikipedia contributors; exact revisions are linked below. CC BY-SA 4.0

  1. Wikipedia contributors — Bulwer's pheasant (fixed revision; adapted and translated)
  2. NCBI Taxonomy — Lophura bulweri (identity and classification)
  3. Forest Department Sarawak — Bulwer’s pheasant description and display
  4. University of California, Irvine — Avise’s Birds of the World: Lophura bulweri

Last fact check:

One discovery leads to another

Red junglefowlA familiar crow belongs to a complex wild life.Gallus gallus ↗Indian peafowlThat famous fan is not made from the tail feathers.Pavo cristatus ↗Common quailA bird that stays out of sight can still be a long-distance traveller.Coturnix coturnix ↗