Phoenix
The Longtail Descendant

date: 2026-06-01

The Phoenix is the long-tail fowl of the European show pen — bred from imported Japanese Onagadori stock in the late nineteenth century and developed into a bird of extraordinary tail length, though not (as is often claimed) of true non-moulting tail growth.

A Bird of the Tail

The Phoenix was developed by the German breeder Houdry in the 1870s from Onagadori stock imported from Japan. The original Onagadori carries a mutation that delays the moult of the tail feathers, allowing them to grow continuously for several years — a bird of three or four years of age can have a tail several metres long. Houdry’s Phoenix stock did not, by most accounts, retain the full non-moulting gene; modern Phoenixes have tails of about 90 cm at maturity, an extraordinary length for a European breed, but considerably less than the 7–10 metres of the best Japanese Onagadori.

“The Phoenix is the most poetic of all poultry. It is bred for a single ornament — the tail — and exists to remind us that beauty alone is sometimes reason enough.” — Die Geflügel-Börse, vol. 14 (1902)

Distinctive Physical Traits

The Phoenix is a slender, long-tailed, single-combed bird of upright carriage. Plumage in the most famous variety is silver duckwing — the white-on-white of the silver, with the saddle and tail in black-and-silver. Other varieties include golden duckwing, black-breasted red, white, and black.

The tail in mature cocks is 90–150 cm long, carried high and arched; the bird must be kept on a high perch and on clean bedding to keep the tail unsoiled and unbroken.

Conservation

The Phoenix is listed by the Livestock Conservancy as watch. Its numbers are stable in Europe, smaller in the United States.