Common Pheasant

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Common Pheasant
Image:Phasianus colchicus 2 tom (Lukasz Lukasik).jpg Adult male Image:Phasianus colchicus 4 hen (Lukasz Lukasik).jpg Adult female
Conservation status
Image:Status iucn3.1 LC.svg Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Galliformes Family: Phasianidae Genus: Phasianus Species: P. colchicus
Binomial name
Phasianus colchicus Linnaeus, 1758

The Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), known in the US as the Ring-necked Pheasant or Chinese Pheasant, is a bird in the pheasant family. It is native to Asia but has been widely introduced elsewhere as a game bird.

The Common Pheasant is one of the world's most hunted birds,^[1] where it has been introduced, and is also common on game farms where it is commercially farmed for this purpose.

The specific epithet, colchicus, refers to Colchis, a region in the Caucasus.^[2]

This species has a number of colloquial names, such as "Chinks" in the US^[3] "Mountain chicken" in China^[4] and "Phezzens" in Montana^[5]

Contents 1 Description 2 Distribution and habitat 3 Behaviour 3.1 Diet 3.2 Breeding 4 Role as a game bird 4.1 Pheasant hunting in North America 5 Media 6 Gallery 7 Sources 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Description

There are many colour forms of the Common Pheasant, ranging in colour from white to almost black in some melanistic examples. These are due to captive breeding and hybridisation between subspecies and with Green Pheasant,reinforced by continually releases to the wild.^[6]

The adult male Common Pheasant of the nominate subspecies P. c. colchicus is 76-89 cm in length with a long brown streaked black tail, accounting for almost 50 cm of the total length. The body plumage is barred bright gold and brown plumage with green, purple and white markings. The head is bottle green with a small crest and distinctive red wattles. The nominate race lacks a white neck ring.

The female (hen) is much less showy, with a duller mottled brown plumage all over and measuring 53-63 cm long with a tail of around 20 cm. Juvenile birds have the appearance of the female with a shorter tail until young males begin to grow characteristic bright feathers on the breast, head and back at about 10 weeks.

The Green Pheasant of Japan is very similar to Common Pheasant, but the males have dark greenish plumage and females are darker. The Ring-necked Pheasant is the state bird of South Dakota, one of only three US state birds that is not a species native to the United States.

There are about 30 subspecies in five groups. The best known is P. c. torquatus (Ring-necked Pheasant) from China (torquatus means "collared"). The five white-winged subspecies from Central Asia are also distinctive.^[7]

[edit] Distribution and habitat

Common Pheasants are native to Asia, their original range extending from between the Black and Caspian seas to Manchuria, Siberia, Korea, China, Japan and Taiwan.^[8]

Common Pheasants can now be found across the globe due to their readiness to breed in captivity and the fact they can naturalise in many climates. The bird was brought to Great Britain around the 10th century, arguably earlier, by both the Romans^[9] and the Normans, but became locally extinct in the early 17th century. It was rediscovered as a gamebird after being ignored for many years in the 1830s, since when it has been reared extensively by gamekeepers. Because around 30 million pheasants are released each year on shooting estates, it is widespread in distribution, although most released birds survive less than a year in the wild. Repeated reintroduction has made the pheasant a very variable species in regard to size and plumage.

Common Pheasants were introduced in North America in 1857, and have become well established throughout much of the Midwest, the Plains states, and parts of the West, as well as Canada and Mexico. It is now most common on the Great Plains.

Common Pheasants have also been introduced to Tasmania, New Zealand, much of north-west Europe, the Hawaiian Islands, Chile, St Helena and Rottnest Island. It has also been unsuccessfully introduced to many other countries.

The birds are found in woodland, farmland, scrub and wetlands. In its natural habitat the Common Pheasant lives in grassland near water with scattered trees.

[edit] Behaviour

Common Pheasants are gregarious birds and outside the breeding season form loose flocks. Wherever they are hunted they are always timid once they associate humans with danger, and will quickly run for safety after hearing beaters/hunters arriving in the area.

While Common Pheasants are able short-distance fliers, they prefer to run: but if startled they can suddenly burst upwards at great speed, with a distinctive "whirring" wing sound. Their flight speed is only 43-61 kilometres per hour (27 to 38 mph) when cruising but when chased they can fly up to 90 kilometres per hour (60 mph).

[edit] Diet

Common Pheasants feed solely on the ground but roost in sheltered trees at night. They eat a wide variety of animal and vegetable type-food, like fruit, seeds and leaves as well as a wide range of invertebrates, with snakes, lizards, small mammals and birds occasionally taken.

[edit] Breeding

They nest on the ground, producing a clutch of around ten eggs over a two-three week period in April to June. The incubation period is about 23-26 days. The chicks stay near the hen for several weeks after hatching but grow quickly, resembling adults by only 15 weeks of age.

The males are polygynous and are often accompanied by a harem of several females.^[10]

[edit] Role as a game bird

Image:Gnome-globe.svg

This article or section deals primarily with the United Kingdom and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

See also: Hunting in the United Kingdom

Common Pheasants are bred to be hunted and are shot in great numbers in Europe, especially the UK, where they are shot on the traditional formal "driven shoot" principles, whereby paying guns have birds driven over them by beaters, and on smaller "rough shoots". The open season in the UK is 1 October - 1 February, under the Game Act 1831.

It was a popular Royal pastime to shoot Common Pheasants in Britain. King George V shot over a thousand pheasants out of a total bag of 3937 over a six day period in December 1913, a total which still stands as the British record bag.^[11]

Pheasant farming is a common practice, and is sometimes done intensively. Birds are supplied both to hunting preserves/estates and restaurants, with smaller numbers being available for home cooks. Pheasant farms have some 10 million birds^{[citation needed]} in the U.S. and 35 million in the United Kingdom.

Common Pheasants are traditionally a target of small game poachers in the U.K., but due to low value of pheasants in the modern day some have resorted to stealing chicks or poults from pens.^[12] The Roald Dahl novel "Danny the Champion of the World" dealt with a poacher (and his son) who lived in the United Kingdom and illegally hunted Common Pheasants.

Generally they are shot by hunters employing gun dog to help find, flush, and retrieve shot birds. Retrievers, spaniels, and pointing breeds are used to hunt pheasants.

The doggerel "Up gets a guinea, bang goes a penny-halfpenny, and down comes a half a crown" reflects the expensive sport of nineteenth century driven shoots in Britan,^[13] where pheasants were often shot for sport rather than as food in the past. The carcasses were often hung for a time to improve the meat by slight decomposition, as with most other game. Modern cookery generally uses moist roasting or farm-raised female birds. In the UK, game is making somewhat of a comeback in popular cooking, and more pheasants than ever are being sold in UK supermarkets.^[14]

[edit] Pheasant hunting in North America

Most Common Pheasants bagged in the United States are feral pheasants.^[15]

In many parts of the United States the Pheasant is seen as the premier upland game bird. Some states derive significant revenue from pheasant hunting. In most states only roosters can be legally hunted.

[edit] Media

[edit] Gallery

RingNeckedPheasant.jpg Ring-necked variant	Phasianus colchicus 2 hen (Marek Szczepanek).jpg Female	Phasianus colchicus 3 tom (Marek Szczepanek).jpg Male	Phasianus colchicus 4 tom (Marek Szczepanek).jpg Male
Faisans p1040240.jpg on sale at a butcher's	Kerygma Cockers Echo & Pheasant.JPG English Cocker Spaniel with male	NewPheasant.png Newly hatched chick

[edit] Sources

• BirdLife International (2004). Phasianus colchicus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 09 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• Proper, Datus C. (1990) Pheasants of the Mind: A Hunter's Search for a Mythic Bird Prentice Hall Press ISBN 0-13-662750-1
• Robertson, Peter (1997) Pheasants Voyageur Press, Inc. ISBN 0-89658-361-9
• Sibley, David Allen (2000) The Sibley Guide to Birds Chanticleer Press, Inc. ISBN 0-679-45122-6

[edit] References

1. ^ Robertson 1997 pp123-136
2. ^ Scientific bird names explained
3. ^ Proper, Datus C. (1990) p. 22
4. ^ Chengde Travel Guide New York Times Travel
5. ^ Proper, Datus C. (1990) p. 21
6. ^ Sibley (2000) p. 141
7. ^ Madge, Steve; McGowan, Phil (2002). Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse. Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-3966-0. 
8. ^ http://www.desertusa.com/mag00/sep/papr/phante.html
9. ^ http://resourcesforhistory.com/Roman_Food_in_Britain.htm
10. ^ http://www.aldercreekranch.com/pheasant.html
11. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A17365755
12. ^ BBC Radio 4 - Open country
13. ^ Robertson 1997 p. 124
14. ^ Game To Eat
15. ^ Robertson 1997 p. 125. Quote: "The vast majority of pheasants shot in North America are wild birds, but there are states where rearing is common."

[edit] External links

• USGS - Ring-necked Pheasant
• - Cornell Lab of Ornithology - Ring-necked Pheasant
• Enature.com - Ring-necked Pheasant
• South Dakota Birds - Ring-necked Pheasant
• A habitat conservation organization dedicated to restoring the habitat of the Ring-necked Pheasant
• RSPB Pheasant page

v • d • e Game Animals and Shooting in Britain
Game Birds:	Common Pheasant · Grey Partridge · Red-legged Partridge · Red Grouse · Ptarmigan · Black Grouse1 · Woodcock · Snipe ·	Image:Phasianus colchicus 2 tom (Lukasz Lukasik).jpg
Quarry Species	Mallard · Teal · Woodpigeon · Golden Plover · Canada Goose · Greylag Goose · Pink-footed Goose · White-fronted Goose2 · Wigeon · Tufted Duck · Shoveler · Pintail · Gadwall · Pochard · Goldeneye · Moorhen · Coot ·
Deer:	Red Deer · Roe Deer · Fallow Deer · Sika Deer · Muntjac Deer · Chinese Water Deer
Other Quarry:	Hare · Red Fox · Rabbit ·
See Also:	BASC · Hunting in the United Kingdom · Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust · Game Act 1831 · Countryside Alliance · Glorious Twelfth · Gamekeeper · 1 Rarely shot due to declining numbers. 2 England and Wales only; protected Scotland.

v • d • e Game Animals and Shooting in North America
Game Birds:	Bobwhite Quail · Chukar · Hungarian Partridge · Prairie Chicken · Mourning Dove · Ring-necked pheasant · Ruffed Grouse · Sharp-tailed Grouse  · Snipe (Common Snipe) · Spruce Grouse · Turkey · Woodcock	Image:BgforhuntingCrop.JPG
Waterfowl	Black Duck · Canada Goose · Canvasback · Gadwall · Greater Scaup · Lesser Scaup · Mallard · Northern Pintail · Redhead · Ross's Goose · Snow Goose · Wood Duck
Big Game:	Bighorn Sheep · Black Bear · Boar · Brown Bear · Buffalo · Cougar (Mountain Lion) · Elk · Moose · White-tailed deer · Gray wolf · Mountain goat · Mule Deer · Muskox · Dall Sheep · Polar Bear
Other Quarry:	Bobcat · Coyote · Fox Squirrel · Gray Fox · Rabbit · Raccoon · Red Fox · Snowshoe Hare · Gray Squirrel
See also:	Bear hunting · Big game hunting  · Deer hunting · Waterfowl hunting · Wolf hunting · Upland hunting

ar:طائر التدرج

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