Winter diet and digestive tract of the Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) in the Qinling Mountains, China

The winter diet and morphological structure of the gastrointestinal tract of the Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) was investigated in the Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi Province in 2002/2003. Individual food items in crops were identified by species, where possible, using standard taxonomic methods. The Golden Pheasant consumes exclusively vegetarian foods in the winter, of at least 14 plant species, such as crops and other vegetable species. The digestive tract of the Golden Pheasant is composed of an oesophagus, a stomach, a relatively long intestine measuring 3.4×standard body length, two fully-developed caeca and a relatively short colon, typical for herbivorous birds. Pebbles of different sizes (0.5-3 mm in diameter) were very frequent in the gizzard. The average dry weight of the pebbles was 10.4±2.5 g and was positively correlated with the weight of digesta in the gizzard (Pearson r=0.747, p < 0.01, n=37). The mucosa surface pH of the digestive tract of the Golden Pheasant was slightly acidic, but higher in the crop and gizzard.