Common pheasant

Chinese ringneck-type male (note grey rump) with very pale female, illustrating the dramatic difference in both colour and size between sexes as per sexual dimorphism

There are about 30 subspecies in five[22] to eight[23] groups. These can be identified by the male plumage, namely presence or absence of a white neck-ring and/or a white superciliary stripe, the colour of the uppertail (rump) and wing coverts, and the colour of crown, chest, upper back, and flank feathers. As noted above, introduced populations have mixed the alleles of various races by various amounts, differing according to the original stock used for introductions and what natural selection according to climate and habitat has made of that.

An investigation into the genetic relationships of subspecies revealed that the earliest subspecies is likely to have been elegans, suggesting that the common pheasant originated from the forests of southeastern China.[24] Initial divergence is thought to have occurred around 3.4 Mya. The lack of agreement between morphology-based subspecies delimitation and their genetic relationships is thought to be attributed to past isolation followed by more recent population mixing as the pheasant has expanded its range across the western Palaearctic.[25]

Sometimes this species is split into the Central Asian common and the East Asian ring-necked pheasants, roughly separated by the arid and high mountainous regions of Turkestan. However, while the western and eastern populations probably were entirely separate during the Zyryanka glaciation when deserts were more extensive,[26] this separation was not long enough for actual speciation to occur. Today, the largest variety of colour patterns is found where the western and eastern populations mix, as is to be expected. Females usually cannot be identified even to subspecies group with certainty.

Many subspecies are in danger of disappearing due to hybridisation with introduced birds. The last indigenous black-necked pheasant (P. c. colchicus) population in Europe survives in Greece in the delta of the river Nestos, where in 2012 the population was estimated 100–250 individuals.[25]

The subspecies groups,[23] going from west to east, and some notable subspecies are:

Subspecies	Range	Description	Image
WESTERN CLADE – Red-rumped pheasants:		The lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts are of a bronze-red, maroon, or rusty-orange general colour, sometimes glossed with oily green; black bars on the tail generally narrow.
Colchicus group – Black-necked pheasants: colchicus, septentrionalis, talischensis, persicus	Caucasus to W. Turkestan, Turkey (Samsun area)[27] and Greece (Nestos delta)[25]	No neck ring. Wing coverts buff to brown (in persicus greyish white or buffy white), uppertail coverts rusty to chestnut
Chrysomelas/principalis group – White-winged pheasants: principalis, zarudnyi, zerafschanicus, bianchii, chrysomelas, shawii	Central Turkestan and western Tarim Basin	No or vestigial neck ring. Wing coverts white, uppertail coverts and general plumage hue bronze to brown
Mongolicus group – Kyrghyz pheasants: turcestanicus, mongolicus	NE Turkestan and adjacent Xinjiang. Note that, despite its name, mongolicus does not occur in Mongolia.	Broad neck ring. Wing coverts white, uppertail coverts hue rusty to chestnut, general plumage hue copper
Tarimensis group – Tarim pheasants: tarimensis	SE Turkestan around the eastern Tarim Basin	No or vestigial neck ring. Wing coverts buff to brown, uppertail coverts dark khaki to light olive
EASTERN CLADE – Grey-rumped pheasants:		The lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts are of a light and more or less lavender-blue, greenish- or yellowish-grey, or olive-greenish color; a rusty orange patch on each side of the rump; black tail-bars generally broad.
Elegans group – Yunnan pheasants: elegans, rothschildi	Eastern Tibet, western Sichuan, northwestern and southeastern Yunnan, northwestern Vietnam and northern Myanmar.	White neck collar and orbital lines are absent. A broad band of richly glossed dark green or bluish green colour runs down the underparts, completely separating the brassy-chestnut of the sides of the chest. Crown dark green. Uppertail coverts light bluish grey.
Strauchi/vlangalii group – Western grey-rumped pheasants: suehschanensis,vlangalii, satscheuensis, edzinensis, strauchi, sohokhotensis, alaschanicus, kiangsuensis	Qaidam Basin, eastern Qinghai, northeastern Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, western Hebei. Note that, despite its name, kiangsuensis does not occur in Jiangsu.	The white neck collar and orbital lines are usually either absent (suehschanensis) or rather narrow, often not complete. Brassy-chestnut on chest dominating over glossy green colour (which only in suehschanensis reaches from foreneck to the belly). Crown usually dark green.
Torquatus group – Chinese ring-necked pheasants: hagenbecki, pallasi, karpowi, torquatus, takatsukasae, decollatus	Widespread in eastern China, extending to northernmost Vietnam in the south and to the Strait of Tartary region in the north; with an isolated population in north-western Mongolia. Absent from Hainan. Most pheasants in North America are of this group.	White neck ring varies from broad in the north east (pallasi) to absent in the south west (decollatus). Wing coverts tan to light grey (almost white in some). Chest copper red to light brown red, in decollatus rich purple red with thick black feather margins. Crown varying from dark green without orbital lines (decollatus) to light grey framed with white orbital lines. In hagenbecki chest feathers broadly fringed black.
Formosanus group – Taiwan pheasants: formosanus	Taiwan	White neck ring interrupted at front neck. Flank feathers characteristically whitish or pure white with black apices and often narrow black margins. Feathers at chest broadly fringed black, giving a scaly appearance.
Subspecies: [28][29]
P. c. pallasi (Manchurian ring-necked pheasant)	Southeastern Siberia (Ussuriland, southern Amurland), adjacent northeastern North Korea (alpine region) to northeastern China (east and south slopes of Greater Khingan Mountains and Lesser Khingan Mountains)	Coloration of plumage dominated by yellow and copper brown tones. Greyish green crown, framed by white orbital lines. White collar very wide and uninterrupted, often broader at the front.
P. c. karpowi (Korean ring-necked pheasant)	Northeastern China (southern Heilongjiang, Jilin, northern Liaoning, northern Hebei) and central and southern Korea and Jeju Island in South Korea. Introduced on Hokkaido, Japan.[30]	Darker and more richly coloured than P. c. pallasi, and white collar narrower.
P. c. elgans (Stone's pheasant)	Eastern Tibet, Western Sichuan, and Northwestern Yunnan provinces, 5,000-10,000 ft. preferred elevation.	Overall plumage dark and contrasting, but check to distinguish this subspecies from suehschanensis which has some range overlap. Scaplulars are scarcely spotted when compared to those of suehschanensis.
P. c. decollatus (Kweichow)	Central China ( Eastern Szechuan, Western Hubei, Northeastern Yunnan and Guizhou).	Appears like torquatus but with no collar
P. c. takatsukasae (Tonkinese)	Southeastern China and Tonkin	Poorly known, best identified by range. Supposedly similar to Torquatus but overall darker.
P. c. rothschildi (Rothschild's)	Yunnan, Tonkin, northern Laos and eastern Myanmar. Prefers elevations of 5,000 to 10,000 ft.	Similar to elegans but lighter. Best identified by range
P. c. torquatus (Chinese)	Eastern China
P. c. formosanus (Taiwanese)	Taiwan	Black belly and pale sides. Range is also diagnostic.
P. c. alaschanicus (Alashan)	North Central China, Southern Mongolia. "Oases near the western foothills of Ala-Shans"	Poorly known, best identified by range.
P. c. hagenbecki (Kobdo)	Kobdo Valley, Mongolia, prefers elevations of 3,000 to 5,000 ft.	Distinctive bright golden flanks as well as small range are diagnostic.
P. c. kiangsuensis (Shansi)	Northeastern China	Extremely similar torquatus, range overlaps, but kiangsuensis skews further north. The barring on the nape in finer in kiangsuensis than in torquatus.
P. c. satscheuensis (Satchu)	Northwestern Gansu	Best identified by range
P. c. strauchi (Strauch's)	Central China, Gansu south to Szechuan. Prefers altitudes near 10,000 ft.	Extremely variable, best identified by range and elimination of other subspecies.
P. c. suehschanensis (Sungpan)	Northwest Szechuan and Eastern Tibet	Similar to elegans
P. c. vlangallii	Quinghai, prefers elevations of 2,000 to 7,000 ft.	Best identified by range
P. c. edzinensis	Ruo Shui basin	Similar plumage to satscheuensis, best identified by range.
P. c. sohokhotensis (Sohokhoto)	Sohokhoto Oasis	Resembles strauchi but paler with "eyebrows" and a collar.
P. c. tarimensis (Tarim basin)	Southeastern Tarim Basin	Olive-green rump
P. c. mongolicus (Mongolian/Kirghiz)	Northern Kyrgyzstan, Eastern Kazakhstan, Xinjiang and Urumchi.	Widespread in its range. Darkly plumaged with contrasting white wing coverts.
P. c turcestanicus (Syr-Daria)	Syr Darya river valley	Small range, darkly plumaged with contrasting white wing coverts, slightly brighter sides than mongolicus.
P. c. bianchii	Southern Uzbekistan, southwestern Tajikistan and extreme northern Afghanistan	Bright white wing coverts, also use range.
P. c. principalis (Prince of Wales)	Southeastern Turkmenistan, extreme northern Iran and Afghanistan	Rare, identification information poorly known other than range, look for the contrasting green and purple-maroon throat.
P. c. shawii (Yarkland)	Xinjiang	Bright white wing coverts
P. c. zerafschanicus (Zerafshan)	Bukhara, Zeravshan and Kashkadarya Valleys of Southern Uzbekistan.	Best identified by range
P. c. zarudnyi (Zarundy's)	Central valleys of the river Amu Darya on the eastern Turkmenistan–Uzbekistan border.	Best identified by range and glossy-green throat.
P. c. colchicus (Caucasian)	Bulgaria and Greece through Turkey to eastern Georgia, eastern Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Armenia and northwestern Iran.	The most widespread of the "black-necked pheasants". Commonly released as a gamebird. Possibly the ancestral population of the "old English blackneck"
P. c. septentrionalis (Northern Caucasian)	Dagestan to north of the Volga Delta	large,  white spots on the back. Golden-orange nape that contrasts against the dark rump.
P. c. talischensis (Talisch)	Transcaucasia and Caspian lowlands of Iran	Fine, even white spots on the back, overall warm orange plumage, little contrast of wing plumage. Range important for ID.
P. c. persicus (Persian)	Southwest Turkmenistan and northcentral Iran	Overall warm orange plumage, wing plumage bright white and contrasting.

Within a maximum clade credibility mDNA gene tree, the most basal group is the elegans-group of the Eastern Clade, diverging from the green pheasant during the Calabrian, and diversifying in Middle Pleistocene around 0.7 million years ago, with the groups of the Western Clade splitting off from those of the Eastern Clade about 0.59 million years ago.[23] While the subspecies of the Western Clade are well geographically separated from each other, the subspecies of the Eastern Clade often show clinal variation and large areas of intergradation. For example, clines connect pallasi-karpowi-torquatus-takatsukasae within the torquatus-group and kiangsuensis-alaschanicus-sohokhotensis-strauchi within the strauchi/vlangalii-group, with the degree of expression of white collar and superciliary stripe in both cases decreasing from north to south. The isolated form hagenbecki is very close to pallasi in phenotype, and has been traditionally treated within the torquatus-group until recently, when it was assigned in one study to the strauchi/vlangalii group.[23] However, the origin of the corresponding feather samples as listed in GenBank[31] is far away from the known distribution of subspecies hagenbecki, and the issue needs further clarification.

Common pheasants nest solely on the ground in scrapes, lined with some grass and leaves, frequently under dense cover or a hedge. Occasionally they will nest in a haystack, or old nest left by other bird. They roost in sheltered trees at night. The males are polygynous as is typical for many Phasianidae, and are often accompanied by a harem of several females.[35] Common pheasants produce a clutch of around 8–15 eggs, sometimes as many as 18, but usually 10 to 12; they are pale olive in colour, and laid over a 2–3 week period in April to June. The incubation period is about 22–27 days. The chicks stay near the hen for several weeks, yet leave the nest when only a few hours old. After hatching they grow quickly, flying after 12–14 days, resembling adults by only 15 weeks of age.

They eat a wide variety of animal and vegetable type-food, like fruit, seeds, grain, mast, berries and leaves as well as a wide range of invertebrates, such as leatherjackets, ant eggs, wireworms, caterpillars, grasshoppers and other insects; with small vertebrates like lizards, field voles, small mammals and small birds occasionally taken.[10]

Southern Caucasian pheasants (P. c. colchicus) were common in Greece during the classical period and it is a widespread myth that the Greeks took pheasants to the Balkans when they colonised Colchis in the Caucasus. This colonization happened during the 6th century BC, but pheasant archaeological remains in the Balkans are much older dating to 6th millennium BC. This fact indicates that probably pheasants reached the area naturally.[36][37] Additionally it seems that they had a continuous range in Turkey from the Sea of Marmara on the edge of the Balkans, across the northern shore of the country till Caucasus.[38] The last remnants of the Balkan population survive in the Kotza-Orman riparian forest of Nestos, in Greece with an estimated population of 100–200 adult birds.[39] In Bulgaria they were lost in the 1970s because they hybridised with introduced eastern subspecies.[40]

Besides the Balkans the species lives in Europe in the area north of Caucasus where the local subspecies P.c.septentrionalis survives pure around the lower reaches of the Samur River. Reintroduction efforts in the rest of the north Caucasian range may include hybrid birds.[41]

Although a non-indigenous species, the common pheasant is farmed even in conservation areas, as seen here in Litovelské Pomoraví Protected Landscape Area in the Czech Republic.

Introduced male and female foraging at the Newport Wetlands RSPB Nature Reserve in the United Kingdom

A startled male makes a dash for cover.

Common pheasants can now be found across the globe due to their readiness to breed in captivity and the fact they can naturalise in many climates, but were known to be introduced in Europe, North America, Japan and New Zealand. Pheasants were hunted in their natural range by Stone Age humans just like the grouse, partridges, junglefowls and perhaps peafowls that inhabited Europe at that time. At least since the Roman Empire, the bird was extensively introduced in many places and has become a naturalized member at least of the European fauna. Introductions in the Southern Hemisphere have mostly failed, except where local Galliformes or their ecological equivalents are rare or absent.

The bird was naturalized in Great Britain around AD 1059, but may have been introduced by the Romano-British centuries earlier.[42] It was the Caucasian subspecies mistakenly known as the 'Old English pheasant' rather than the Chinese ring-necked pheasants (torquatus) that were introduced to Britain.[43] But it became extirpated from most of the isles in the early 17th century. There were further re-introductions of the 'white neck-ringed' variety in the 18th century. It was rediscovered as a game bird in the 1830s after being ignored for many years in an amalgam of forms. Since then it has been reared extensively by gamekeepers and was shot in season from 1 October to 31 January. Pheasants are well adapted to the British climate and breed naturally in the wild without human supervision in copses, heaths and commons.

By 1950 pheasants bred throughout the British Isles, although they were scarce in Ireland. Because around 30,000,000 pheasants are released each year on shooting estates, mainly in the Midlands and South of England, it is widespread in distribution, although most released birds survive less than a year in the wild. The Bohemian was most likely seen in North Norfolk.[44] The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust is researching the breeding success of reared pheasants and trying to find ways to improve this breeding success to reduce the demand to release as many reared pheasants and increase the wild population. As the original Caucasian stock all but disappeared during the Early Modern era, most 'dark-winged ringless' birds in the UK are actually descended from 'Chinese ring-necked' and 'green pheasant' hybrids,[45] which were commonly used for rewilding.

Common pheasants were introduced in North America in 1773,[46] and have become well established throughout much of the Rocky Mountain states (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, etc.), the Midwest, the Plains states, as well as Canada and Mexico.[47][48] In the southwest, they can even be seen south of the Rockies in Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge 161 km (100 mi) south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is now most common on the Great Plains. Common pheasants have also been introduced to much of northwest Europe, the Hawaiian Islands, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia including the island state of Tasmania and small offshore islands such as Rottnest Island off Western Australia.[49][50]

Most common pheasants bagged in the United States are wild-born feral pheasants. In some states[51] captive-reared and released birds make up much of the population.[52]

Pheasant hunting is very popular in much of the US, especially in the Great Plains states, where a mix of farmland and native grasslands provides ideal habitat. South Dakota alone has an annual harvest of over 1 million birds a year by over 200,000 hunters.[53]

There are a number of negative effects of common pheasants on other game birds, including: nest parasitism, disease, aggression, and competition for resources.[54]  Nest parasitism, or brood parasitism, is common in pheasants because of their propensity to nest near other birds and the fact that nesting requirements are similar to those of other prairie birds and waterfowl that inhabit the same areas.  This phenomenon has been observed in grey partridges; prairie chickens; several types of duck, rail, grouse, turkeys, and others.[54]  Effects of nest parasitism may include abandonment of nests with a high proportion of foreign eggs, lower hatching rates, and lower numbers of eggs laid by the host species. Pheasant eggs also have a shorter incubation time than many of their nestmates, which may result in the individual watching over the nest to abandon her own eggs after the pheasants hatch, thinking that the remaining eggs are not viable.[54]  Pheasants raised in other species' nests often imprint on their caretaker, which may result in them adopting atypical behaviour for their species. This is sometimes the cause of hybridisation of species as pheasants adopt the mating behaviour of their nest's host species.[54]

Pheasants often compete with other native birds for resources. Studies have shown that they can lead to decreased populations of bobwhites and partridges due to habitat and food competition.[55] Insects are a valuable food source for both pheasants and partridges and competition may lead to decreased populations of partridges.[56] Pheasants may also introduce disease, such as blackhead, to native populations. While pheasants tolerate the infection well, other birds such as ruffed grouse, chukar, and grey partridge are highly susceptible.[57] Pheasants also have a tendency to harass or kill other birds. One study noted that in pheasant vs. prairie chicken interactions, the pheasants were victorious 78% of the time.[58]

A variety of management strategies have been suggested for areas that are home to species that are particularly threatened by pheasants, such as the prairie chickens and gray partridge. These strategies include mowing grass to decrease the nesting cover preferred by pheasants, decreasing pheasant roosting habitat, shooting pheasants in organized hunts, trapping and removing them from areas where there are high concentrations of birds of threatened species, and others.[59]

While pheasant populations are not in any danger, they have been decreasing in the United States over the last 30 years, largely in agricultural areas.[60] This is likely due to changes in farming practices, application of pesticides, habitat fragmentation, and increased predation due to changes in crops grown.  Many crops beneficial for pheasants (such as barley) are not being farmed as much in favor of using the land for more lucrative crops, such as nut trees.  Many of these new crops are detrimental to pheasant survival.[60] Pheasants prefer to nest in areas of significant herbaceous cover, such as perennial grasses, so many agricultural areas are not conducive to nesting anymore.[61] Pheasant hens also experience higher levels of predation in areas without patches of grassland.[62]

In the United Kingdom, about 50 million pheasants reared in captivity are now released each summer, a number which has significantly increased since the 1980s.[63] Most of these birds are shot during the open season (1 October to 1 February), and few survive for a year. The result is a wildly fluctuating population, from 50 million in July to less than 5 million in June.[64]

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