Common Pheasant

The common pheasant is a large, long-tailed game bird native to Asia, from the Caucasus to China, but introduced so widely across Europe, North America and elsewhere for hunting that it is now one of the most familiar and widespread game birds in the world. The male is strikingly colored, with an iridescent copper-and-green body, a red facial wattle and a long, barred tail, while the female is a much plainer mottled brown, providing camouflage while nesting on the ground. Common pheasants feed on a mixed diet of seeds, grain, berries and insects, foraging mainly on the ground in farmland, woodland edges and hedgerows. The species is heavily managed for sport hunting in many countries, with millions of birds reared and released annually in some regions, and feral populations have become established well outside its original native range as a result.