PHEASANT (COMMON)

A large, long-tailed game bird. Males have rich chestnut, golden-brown and black markings on body and tail, with a dark green head and red face wattling. Females are mottled with paler brown and black. They were introduced in France long ago and more recent introductions have brought in a variety of races and breeds for sport shooting. It flies fast and in a rolling countryside it is a very difficult bird to shoot. In some of our hunting estates there are also some Reeve’s pheasant. This boldly patterned pheasant is instantly recognizable, having some of the longest tail feathers of any bird species. The male has bright golden-chestnut upper parts, with black borders to each feather creating a strongly scaled appearance, while the upper breast is darker chestnut to black, and the lower breast and side feathers are white, tipped in black. The female is much more light is color with a short tail. The males when they fly make a very characteristic sound (like a small helicopter) and are very, very fast !