Ring-necked Pheasant (Common Pheasant)

The Ring-necked Pheasant is a striking, large-bodied gamebird known for the male's brilliant iridescent copper and green plumage, white neck ring, and extraordinarily long, tapering tail. Females are a mottled, cryptic buff-brown, excellent for camouflage in dry grasses. Specialized feathers like this one display the intricate transverse barring characteristic of the species' body and flank plumage.

Rich golden-brown and chestnut background with striking, evenly spaced dark brown or black transverse bars and a pale central shaft

Modified and sparse barb structure; highly reduced pennaceous section near the center with long, hair-like, loosely-arranged plumulaceous barbs

Delicate, hair-like, and soft to the touch with minimal rigidity, lacking the tightly locked interlocking structure of standard flight or body contour feathers

Distinctive transverse black barring against a golden-brown background on a very narrow, hair-like or elongated shaft structure

Agricultural fields, brushy hedgerows, open woodlands, wetlands, and grassy meadows with scattered brush for cover

Native to Asia, widely introduced and naturalized across North America and Europe, primarily as a gamebird

Serves as an important prey species for medium to large mammalian and avian predators; functions as an omnivorous seed and insect consumer in agricultural ecosystems

Other gallinaceous birds such as partridges or grouse, though the precise high-contrast barring and hair-like structure are diagnostic for certain male pheasant tracts

Ring-necked Pheasants are strong runners and prefer to run from danger rather than fly, taking to the air with a sudden, explosive flush only when closely approached

Fair condition; shows some slight fraying and wear along the delicate terminal barbs, common for exposed ornamental plumage