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.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Relationship to PeopleFarmed or Commercially Raised 1 Relationship to People Relationship to PeopleInvasive or Introduced Species 1 Living or ExtinctDerived from this species' own Conservation Status: this atlas's IUCN category list has no Extinct value, so a set conservation-status is itself evidence of living status. Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceThe body plumage is barred bright gold or fiery copper-red and chestnut-brown plumage with iridescent sheen of green and purple; but rump uniform is sometimes blue. The wing coverage is white or cream and black-barred markings are common on the tail. The head is bottle green with a small crest and distinctive red wattle. 1 Comparison
NatureServe Rank CITES Appendix Scientific Name Conservation Status Connections
Child Taxon Of
In Biome
Source Common Pheasant (Wikipedia)
Source Common Pheasant (Wikipedia)
In Ecosystem
Source Common Pheasant (Wikipedia)
Source Common Pheasant (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Same As
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Found In
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Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Common Pheasant (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
The common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), ring-necked pheasant, or blue-headed pheasant, is a bird in the pheasant family (Phasianidae).
Description section
The body plumage is barred bright gold or fiery copper-red and chestnut-brown plumage with iridescent sheen of green and purple; but rump uniform is sometimes blue. The wing coverage is white or cream and black-barred markings are common on the tail. The head is bottle green with a small crest and distinctive red wattle.
Infobox: status
LC
- one of the world's most hunted birds
- common on game farms, where it is commercially bred
- widely introduced elsewhere as a game bird...naturalised
In Ecosystem: Great Plains, North America
The largest populations of pheasants in the United States occur in a continuous belt over the Great Plains, the Corn Belt and the Wheat Belt, with extensions of its range reaching into southern Canada and the farmland areas of New England.
In Ecosystem: Caspian Sea, Distribution
Common pheasants are native to Asia and parts of Europe, their original range extending from the eastern Black Sea and the Caspian Sea to Manchuria, Siberia, Korea, Mainland China, and Taiwan.
In Biome: Wetlands, Ecology
These birds are found in woodland, farmland, scrub, and wetlands.
In Biome: Grassland, Ecology
In their natural habitat, common pheasants live in grassland near water with small copses of trees, and are tolerant of both dry and humid soils.
View the Source 2. EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014)
3. GBIF Species API
4. NatureServe Explorer: Phasianus colchicus
NatureServe ExplorerGlobal rank (roundedGRank)Quote, Global rank (roundedGRank)
"roundedGRank": "G5"
5. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology: Phasianus colchicus (Animal Diversity Web)
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of ZoologyConservation Status: CITESQuote, Conservation Status: CITES
CITES No special status
Wikidata: Common Pheasant
Common Pheasant (Wikidata)
WikidataWikidata Q25432 (P1034 main food source): cereal
Main food source (Wikidata property P1034): cereal.
Wikidata Q25432 (P1034 main food source): earthworm
Main food source (Wikidata property P1034): earthworm.
Wikidata Q25432 (P1034 main food source): insect
Main food source (Wikidata property P1034): insect.
View the Source Catalogue of Life
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of LifeChild Taxon Of: GalliformesView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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