Ring-necked Pheasant (Common Pheasant)

The male Ring-necked Pheasant is a spectacular game bird with a rich, iridescent plumage, a red wattled face, and a white neck ring. The tail is exceptionally long and barred, used primarily for display during courtship and to provide balance while running or flying. Females are cryptically colored in mottled brown to blend into grassland nests

Base color is a warm golden-buff or olive-brown, heavily marked with distinct, dark brown to black horizontal bars. A subtle purple or green iridescence may be visible at certain angles near the edges

Strictly pennaceous and tightly interlocked throughout most of the vane to provide rigidity, becoming slightly plumulaceous at the very base near the calamus

Smooth and stiff to the touch; the surface has a slight waxy gloss typical of ground-dwelling birds that require protection from moisture and abrasion

Extreme length combined with the bold, dark horizontal barring on a golden-brown ground color; stiff, robust rachis and tapered lanceolate shape

Found in agricultural fields, grasslands with tall vegetation, hedgerows, and brushy cover near water sources; favors edges between cover and open foraging areas

Native to Asia but widely introduced and naturalized across North America, Europe, and parts of Oceania; non-migratory and highly sedentary

Functions as a generalist omnivore (seeds, insects) and serves as a major prey item for larger raptors and carnivorous mammals

Wild Turkey tail feathers are much broader and rounded; Copper Pheasant (Syrmaticus soemmerringii) feathers have different color tones and wider barring

Despite their size and spectacular tails, pheasants are powerful fliers in short bursts, reaching speeds of up to 40 mph, though they prefer to escape predators by running

Fair to Good; shows some splitting and fraying along the edges (vane separation), likely due to environmental wear or the bird moving through thick brush