The Ring-Necked Pheasant

One of the world’s most popular upland game birds, the ring-necked pheasant was introduced to the United States in 1857 for the purpose of sport hunting. Native to Asia, the ring-necked pheasant and pheasant hunting had earlier been introduced to the British Isles in the 10th century. Adaptable to a variety of habitats, pheasants quickly established themselves in the grasslands of the American Midwest, in the valleys and brushy foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the Southeast and even in desert areas of the Southwest. Widespread destruction of habitat has diminished populations over the past few decades, but wingshooting and conservation organizations are working to preserve pheasant habitat.

As with many species of birds, pheasants are characterized by sexual dimorphism. In simple terms, this means the males are bigger and showier than the females. One of nature’s most beautiful birds, the rooster ring-necked pheasant is covered with copper colored plumage, a long black and brown tail, bright-red wattles about a green head and a white band around its neck. Hen pheasants are smaller and lack the males’ long tail feathers and colorful head and neck.

The ring-necked pheasant is a subspecies of the common pheasant, but is the most common type seen in North America. Pheasants spend the majority of their lives on the ground foraging for seeds, insects, fruit and even small animals such as lizards, amphibians and mice. They like roost in trees at night, but prefer to spend their days in the grass. So an ideal pheasant habitat includes grasslands and fields with scattered groves of trees.

Hen’s produce clutches of around 10 eggs which hatch at about 25 days. Since rooster pheasants stay busy maintaining a harem of females, hens are mostly on their own to raise their young. Hen’s prefer to nest on the ground in grass that is not to tall for them to stand up and have a look around, and not too thick for them to walk through. Alfalfa fields make excellent nesting ground. Young pheasant reach physical maturity at about 15 weeks.