Pheasant (gobirding.eu)

Pheasant (Common Pheasant or Ring-necked Pheasant) Phasianus colchicus

A super-abundant species whose population is maintained at an artificially high level thanks to vast numbers of birds being reared and released by gamekeepers. There are a number of different races of this non-native species but due to a long history of interbreeding between them it is not normally possible to assign individuals to one or other race. Most show a conspicuous white neck ring but a large number lack this or show only a partial ring. Melanistic birds resembling Japanese Green Pheasants are being released in increasing numbers - scroll down for more information and photos of these.


male Pheasant, Heacham (Norfolk, UK), 21st April 2004	male Pheasant, Flitcham (Norfolk, UK), 7th April 2006

female Pheasant, north of Stanhoe (Norfolk, UK), 14th December 2005	female Pheasant, East Rudham (Norfolk, UK), 17th June 2004

male Pheasants, Brew (Cornwall, UK), 6th October 2005

male Pheasants, Dunton (Norfolk, UK), 1st October 2004




Pheasants, Docking (Norfolk, UK), 30th October 2007



male Pheasant, Sandringham (Norfolk, UK), 14th March 2008



Pheasants, Sculthorpe Moor (Norfolk, UK), 24th March 2008

'Melanistic' Pheasants

Recent years have seen a sharp increase in very dark Pheasants being released into the Norfolk countryside and in one or two areas they may even outnumber ordinary Pheasants. I presume that it is these birds that have led to a simultaneous spate of reports of Japanese Green Pheasants Phasianus versicolor, however despite their superficial similarity, this identification is not correct.

These birds are not simply blackish Pheasants as might be expected of melanistic birds, but according to variations in light conditions they may appear green, purple or blue (or black). The term "melanistic" is frequently applied to these birds, although I'm not sure if it's technically correct to describe this irridescent plumage as melanism. Although there is possibly some Japanese Green Pheasant influence in their ancestry (but I suspect not), these intriguing birds are best referred to as a variation, or mutation, of (Common) Pheasant. The variation is known as 'tenebrosus'.

The population of Pheasants in the Great Hockham and Wretham area of the Brecks appears to contain a particularly large proportion of these birds but they can frequently be encountered anywhere in Norfolk and beyond. However they seem a little harder to find again in very recent years, so I wonder if they were a passing fad for gamekeepers?


male Pheasant (var. tenebrosus), Great Hockham (Norfolk, UK), 12th March 2006

male Pheasant (var. tenebrosus), Wretham (Norfolk, UK), 20th March 2005	male Pheasant (var. tenebrosus), Ingoldisthorpe (Norfolk, UK), 27th January 2005

female Pheasant (var. tenebrosus), Great Hockham (Norfolk, UK), 20th March 2005

presumed immature male Pheasant (var. tenebrosus), Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 18th October 2008	presumed immature male Pheasant (var. tenebrosus), Thornham Corner (Norfolk, UK), 27th November 2004

male Pheasant (var. tenebrosus), Great Hockham (Norfolk, UK), 14th February 2009

female Pheasant sp., (perhaps var. tenebrosus)?, between Amner & West Newton (Norfolk, UK), 20th February 2009 - really not sure about this one: blue skin round the eye and excessively prominent pale fringes all over otherwise dark plumage. Not your typical tenebrosus but what does look like this? Let me know if you have any thoughts on this one!

Unsurprisingly, these variant Pheasants interbreed with ordinary Pheasants and a variety of intermediate plumages can often be encountered. Some of the darker birds in the following batch of photos may possibly be birds with the tenebrosus mutant in their ancestry:

male Pheasant, Sandringham (Norfolk, UK), 24th January 2005

male Pheasant, Holkham (Norfolk, UK), 23rd February 2004



male Pheasants, Strumpshaw Fen (Norfolk, UK), 1st January 2010


male Pheasant, Sculthorpe Moor (Norfolk, UK), 7th March 2009

male Pheasant, Burnham Market (Norfolk, UK), 21st January 2004	male Pheasant, Amner (Norfolk, UK), 21st March 2006

male and female Pheasants, East Rudham (Norfolk, UK), 17th April 2003

male Pheasant, Bawdeswell (Norfolk, UK), 23rd February 2008

female Pheasant, Flitcham (Norfolk, UK), 7th April 2006	male Pheasant, Coxford (Norfolk, UK), 23rd March 2004

female Pheasants, Flitcham (Norfolk, UK), 7th November 2006. The bird in the right hand photo is the same bird as the darker one in the left hand photo.

male Pheasant, Flitcham (Norfolk, UK), 27th February 2008

male Pheasant, Tatterford (Norfolk, UK), 20th April 2004	female Pheasant, Thornham (Norfolk, UK), 14th October 2003

male Pheasant, Ingoldisthorpe (Norfolk, UK), 22nd February 2005	male Pheasant, Tatterford (Norfolk, UK), 25th May 2004

immature male Pheasant, Tatterford (Norfolk, UK), 15th August 2005	Pheasant chick, Tatterford (Norfolk, UK), 29th May 2005

male Pheasant, Wolferton (Norfolk, UK), 30th January 2007	male Pheasant, Flitcham (Norfolk, UK), 7th April 2006

female Pheasant, Sculthorpe Moor (Norfolk, UK), 24th March 2008	male Pheasant, Flitcham (Norfolk, UK), 8th January 2008

male Pheasants, Choseley (Norfolk, UK), 27th November 2008

leucistic male Pheasant, near Hilborough (Norfolk, UK), 8th February 2009

leucistic female Pheasant, Great Cressingham (Norfolk, UK), 22nd February 2009

leucistic male Pheasant, Hockwold (Norfolk, UK), 2nd May 2009

female Pheasant, Ringstead (Norfolk, UK), 21st April 2008	male Pheasant, Docking (Norfolk, UK), 14th November 2008

male Pheasant, Cley (Norfolk, UK), 28th March 2009	female Pheasant, Titchwell (Norfolk, UK), 20th March 2009

female Pheasant, Houghton (Norfolk, UK), 3rd November 2008	leucistic female Pheasant, Strumpshaw Fen (Norfolk, UK), 7th February 2009

male Pheasant, Sedgeford, 12th November 2009	male Pheasant, Sculthorpe Moor, 7th March 2009