Had the pheasant not screamed, it wouldn’t have been shot.

Japanese Proverb quote

Pheasant : Have you shot - I mean seen - this bird?

Common Pheasant

The Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), is a bird in the pheasant family (Phasianidae). It is native to Russia and has been widely introduced elsewhere as a game bird.

“Ring-necked Pheasant” is a collective name for a number of subspecies and their crossbreeds.

It is a well-known gamebird, among those of more than regional importance perhaps the most widespread and ancient one in the whole world. The Common Pheasant is one of the world’s most hunted birds.

Identification Tips:
• Length: 27 inches
• Chunky, long-tailed, round-winged, ground-dwelling bird
• Small head and thin neck
• Immatures similar to adult female
• Some subspecies have green body or white wings, but are very locally introduced

Adult male:
• Green head
• Pale bill
• Unfeathered red facial skin around eye
• White ring around neck
• Golden plumage with bluish and greenish iridescence and black spots scattered throughout
• Long, pointed, golden tail feathers with black barring
• Spurred legs

Adult female:
• Buffy brown head and underparts
• Dark brown back with paler edgings and centers
• Black spots and bars scattered about head, neck and flanks
• Long, buff-brown, pointed tail
• Lacks spurs

Similar species:

Adult male unmistakable. Female similar to a number of species of female grouse but has a much longer, pointed tail and bare legs. Female Sharp-tailed Grouse also has a pointed tail but is shorter-necked, has a slight crest, has white outer tail feathers, a shorter tail and feathered legs. Female Sage Grouse has a dark belly patch and feathered legs.

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 many color forms of the male Common Pheasant, ranging in color from nearly white to almost black in some melanistic examples.

In the USA, Common Pheasants are widely known as “Chinese Pheasants” Sturnella magna. While Common Pheasants are able short-distance fliers, they prefer to run.

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 small vertebrates like snakes, lizards, small mammals and birds occasionally taken.