Skip to main content

Common Pheasant

Male Common Pheasant
Though the Common (or Ring-Necked) Pheasant is the State Bird of South Dakota, it is not actually native to North America. Common Pheasants actually originated in Asia, and have been introduced all over the world. Pheasants were brought to the British Isles as long ago as 1,000 CE, and have been in the United States since the 1850s.

There are actually over 30 different subspecies of Common Pheasant, divided geographically. They are, as a species, the most common Pheasant on earth. Even though they are quite abundant, wild populations are sometimes supplemented with captive bred birds for hunting purposes.

Female
Because they are a common, introduced species, Common Pheasants can be found in all sorts of habitats. In their native lands they are most often seen in open grasslands and agricultural areas. They are omnivorous, eating plants, seeds, nuts, fruits, and insects.

Common Pheasants are very sexually dimorphic. The males have much longer, more colorful plumage. They have green necks, red cheeks, and bold, barred patterns. Females in comparison, are a very drab, mottled light brown. The males' feathers play a part in their mating habits. They use them to attract harems of females that can number up to 18 birds. They guard their females fiercely, but only until they start incubating their eggs. At that point the males abandon the females, who are left to incubate alone. Luckily the mom won't be busy for too long, the chicks are precocial and can begin making short flights after only two weeks!
IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : Originally from Asia
Size : Length 35in (90cm)
Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Galliformes
Family : Phasianidae -- Genus : Phasianus -- Species : P. colchicus
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Burmese Peacock

Polyplectron bicalcaratum Burmese Peacocks are also referred to as Grey Peacock-Pheasants, which is probably a more apt name, as they are not actually Peacocks... though they do belong to the same family. At any rate, they share some physical resemblances to Peacocks- most notably the eyes on their tail feathers. Burmese Peacocks are the national birds of Myanmar, which was called Burma until 1989, though some still refer to it as such. The birds live in several other Southeast Asian countries as well, and are divided into four subspecies. The species as a whole is listed as being of Least Concern , because they have a large range and population size. It unfortunately appears that they may be declining in number, but it is a slow descent that does not yet meet the vulnerability thresholds. The birds are listed under CITES Appendix II, because they can be kept in captivity and grabbing individuals from the wild could become problematic for the species. IUCN Stat...
3 comments
Read more

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a...
59 comments
Read more

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!
18 comments
Read more