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Background On The Pheasant

July 1st, 2010

Many hunters like to get out on a Saturday afternoon in search for wild pheasant. Phasianus Colchicus is the scientific name of the common pheasant. Many hunters call it simply pheasant or English pheasant.

Living in wooded locations, pheasants will eat larvae millipedes, snails, earthworms, grasshoppers, and spiders. All these soft animals and insects make for a delicious treat for these exquisite birds. They like to also feed on a variety of grains and berries. At night, these gorgeous fowl will roost up in the trees and at daybreak they will peck the ground for some tasty treats.

Partridge, quail, or ruffed grouse may also be referred to as pheasants by some. In the U. S., the ring-necked pheasant were introduced in the 1800's. The male, known as the cock, has brilliant brown plumage with a green, purple marking with a white ring around the neck. The female, also known as the hen, has a duller brown plumage. The male and female pheasant has two things in common, they both have short rounded wings and very strong and stout beaks with a yellowish appearance. The male can have a tail over 20 inches long and it often has long sharp spurs that often protects it from other wild animals.

Pheasant populations are sensitive to land development as well as clear cutting and environmental pollution. For the sake of the future of pheasant's in the United States, there are more and more pheasant farms being started to help boost the local bird populations. Pheasant farms guarantee a better solution for the pheasants to survive and flourish so that future generations can enjoy the bounty of the land.

The Great Plains has a huge population of pheasants that live in the open grass prairies and around the old farm houses. The birds absolutely love to peck around on the grasses for grains and insects in the fields and roost around old homeplaces and farming implements. The United Kingdom has a lot more pheasants than we do here in the United States. In the United States, it is estimated that there are about 10 million pheasants while in the UK there are approximately 35 million.

Males do a strutting movement in the spring of the year to entice a female into courting. Strutting is when a cock puffs his feathers and his head will become bright red and engorged. Males will fight each other to the end for breeding rights with the females.

Male birds are polyamorous because they will mate with more than one female throughout their lifetime. It is common to find more than one female following the male at any one time. The females nest on the ground and will have about 10 eggs per nest. The incubations period last between 23-26 days between April to June.

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