The Yellow Golden, also known as the Ghigi's Golden, is a popular color mutation of the Golden Pheasant
occuring in captivity. The Yellow Golden is not a recognized subspecies of the Golden and I have found no
reports of any ever seen in the wild. In my opinion, this is the most striking of the mutations. The obvious
difference is the color, with yellow replacing the red. The male has retained the dark green mantle from the
original form. The blue of the wings has been replaced with brown while the crest and ruff are the same as
the normal golden. The tail is pale brown spotted with light yellow. The hen is pale yellow all over with
gray barring.
Description
This mutation has its origins in Italy when the late Professor Alessandro Ghigi was presented with one male
in 1952. Initial breedings were with a normal hen and normal heterozygous chicks were produced. The
heterozygous females were then bred back to the mutant male. By the middle of the 1950s, the yellow
mutants were breeding true.
The Yellow Golden was quite expensive when first brought to America in the early 1960s, but now they are
reasonably priced, very popular and common in aviaries. Be sure to allow plenty of shade, as the brillant
yellow will fade to a dull shade of buff if exposed to direct sunlight.
