Discovery of Hume’s Pheasant (Syrmaticus humiae) in Guizhou Province, southwestern China

Hume’s Pheasant (Syrmaticus humiae), including two subspecies, is distributed in northeastern India, Myanmar, northern Thailand and southwestern China (Collar et al., 2001). In China its distribution has been assumed to be restricted to Yunnan and northwestern Guangxi (Mackinnon et al., 2000; Zheng, 2011). Hume’s Pheasant is listed as a Near Threatened species by IUCN for its small and fragmented population (BirdLife International, 2011). It has also been ranked as a Class I National Key Protected Animal in China. Although the distribution range of Hume’s Pheasant in Guangxi and Guizhou is only separated by the Nanpan and Hongshui rivers, this pheasant had not been previously recorded in Guizhou Province. Jinzhongshan National Nature Reserve was established in 2008 with the express purpose of protecting the population of Hume’s Pheasant in northwestern Guangxi. This area is separated from southwestern Guizhou Province by the Nanpan River, prior to its damming in 1997 only about 50 m at its widest, yet ornithologists had not previously recorded Hume’s Pheasant on the Guizhou side of the river (Wu et al., 1986). We have studied Hume’s Pheasant for about eight years in Jinzhongshan National Nature Reserve. Using radio transmitters, we found that Hume’s Pheasant had spread on the Guangxi side of the Nanpan River. Some local hunters also told us that they had captured some pheasants in Guizhou Province many years ago. Therefore, a survey of Hume’s Pheasant was conducted in southwestern Guizhou Province. A pile of plumage, including that of Lady Amherst’s Pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae), the Mountain Bamboo-Partridge (Bambusicola fytchii) and Hume’s pheasant were collected from a logging shed in Jishanlin Village (24°45′25.2′′N, 104°49′55.5′′E), Cangjiang Town, Xingyi City, southwestern Guizhou Province in March 2012 (Fig. 1). Anonymous local people admitted they captured these pheasants using traditional traps in a nearby forest. The plumage collected in Guizhou Province was that of an adult male Hume’s Pheasant and absolutely similar to the specimens collected from the Jinzhongshan National Nature Reserve in all its different parts. Some plumage of Hume’s Pheasant was also observed on the capture site. Therefore, we firmly believed this pheasant was captured from Guizhou Province.