The Big-Eyed Pheasant (Argusianus argus), also known as the Hundred-Eyed Pheasant, is a pheasant bird found in the dense forests of Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia.
Male pheasants with big eyes are 160–200 cm long, of which the tail is 105–143 cm long and weigh 2–2.7 kg;
Female pheasants are 72–76 cm long, with a tail length of 30–36 cm and a weight of 1.5–1.7 kg.
The pheasant has a brown body , a blue head and neck , a reddish upper breast , black feathers on the crown and back of the neck , and red feet.
The most peculiar thing about males is the large, wide and long secondary feathers, which are decorated with large eye spots. Males reach the age of 3 and grow adult feathers.
Females are smaller and darker , with shorter tail feathers and smaller eye-shaped ornamentation.
The big-eyed pheasant is not as colorful as other pheasants, but its courtship is unique.
The male will clear the field in the forest, ready for courtship. They will cry loudly to attract the female, and open their wings in front of the female to fan, showing the "eyes" on the wings, and the real eyes are hidden in the middle, watching the hen.
Therefore, Carl Linnaeus gave them the scientific name of the Hundred-Eyed Giant Argos in Greek mythology.
Argos has a hundred eyes, some of which are always open even when he sleeps, hence the nickname "Panoptes" (always watching).
The claim that Argos had a hundred eyes may have appeared at a later time. In a fragment of an ancient poem, Ezemios (whose author is Hesiod), it is mentioned that Argos had four eyes, but that he could never close his eyes thanks to Hera's blessing. Later, it was attached that there were as many as a hundred eyes, and they did not have to be completely closed when sleeping.
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