The star pheasant (Rheinardia ocellata) is a large (up to 235 cm long) and attractive bird with buff and black plumage with dark brown spots, a red beak, brown iris and brown skin. blue around the eyes.

Its head is small, decorated with white feathers standing upright in the crest area. The male pheasant has an elongated and broad tail with 12 feathers nearly 2 meters long (for a long time it was considered the longest feathers of any wild bird). The female star pheasant looks similar, with a shorter crest and tail. It is the only species of the genus Rheinardia.

Little is known about this species in the wild. A shy and evasive bird, the star pheasant lives in the forests of Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia in Southeast Asia. Their food is mainly leaves, fruits, insects, maggots, pupae and small animals.

In general, adult birds have wide white eyebrows, a long comb (60mm) from the back of the head to the nape of the neck, and pink facial skin. Males have long tails and crests, and plumage is fine brown with white, tawny and black spots. The abdomen is similar to the back, the front of the throat is pale white.

1-2 year old male birds resemble adult birds in color but have shorter tails. The female bird has a shorter and sparser crest than the male bird, the feather color is similar but the size is slightly smaller. Brown eyes. Pink beak. Legs brownish pink. Both male and female birds have no spurs.

Starts breeding in early March. Lays 2 eggs that are dark yellow and pink with tiny purple spots. Fresh weight is about 75.3g. incubation 25 days. Food is insects, sometimes even frogs. Also eat leaves, spicy fruits and grass seeds. On May 7, in Kong Cha Rang, a female bird along with two young birds were caught. The female bird is molting her belly and wing feathers.

Live in nests and evergreen forests, on tops and hillsides with different slopes and altitudes from 100 – 1000m, commonly from 100 – 700m in places where star pheasants live, you can often hear cries. From afar, I can sometimes hear them calling late at night.

During the breeding season, male birds show off their code by dancing in the open forest. Nests are often made right on the ground, in the same habitat where several species of the same family are often found.