Abstract: With 25 infrared cameras in Pingjingguan Village, Guangshui City, Suizhou, Hubei Province, China, we recorded the activity rhythms of the Reeves’s pheasants (Syrmaticus reevesii) from January 2018 to December 2019. We conducted a comparative analysis of the activity rhythms of Reeves’s pheasants across different age groups and different sexes. The results showed that the daily activity rhythms of the Reeves’s pheasants differed among different age groups and between sexes, showing staggered peaks. From May to July when chicks appeared, there were two peak activity periods for brooding females, three peak periods for non-brooding females, and no peak periods for male adults. From July to September when subadults appeared, there were three peak periods for subadults, female adults and male adults, presenting in the early morning, noon, and evening. The daily activity rhythms of Reeves’s pheasants from May to July differed significantly between the sexes. The degree of overlaps between different ages and sexes was high from July to September, with the highest overlap between subadults and concurrent female adults (overlap coefficient=0.96). The results highlight the differences in the daily activity rhythms of Reeves’s pheasants of different ages and sexes. Life history stages may account for their differences in daily activity rhythms. We also make recommendations for the conservation of the Reeves’s pheasants.

Key words: Reeves’s pheasant, infrared camera, subadult, kernel density estimation, Pingjingguan.