Pheasants
Ringneck pheasants bring to mind the hearty cackle of a flushed rooster
in the fall, but pheasants may also be raised in a domestic environment.
In fact, because the pheasant spends the greater part of its life on
the ground, it readily adapts to life in confinement. The ringneck
pheasant is not native to this continent. It was first introduced from
China to the Willamette Valley of Oregon in 1881. Since that time nearly
all states have attempted to establish ringnecks. Pheasants were
stocked in North Dakota in 1910. Private citizens, with help from the
Game and Fish Department, continued stocking efforts until pheasants
were well established in southeastern North Dakota. Wild pheasant
populations are subject to extreme fluctuation due primarily to the
fluctuating availability of suitable cover and the fluctuating severity
of winter weather. North Dakota's first pheasant hunting season was in
1931. Pheasant season closed because of the lack of birds only in 1953,
1966 and 1969.
» Length & Weight
» Adult length: Males average 20 inches (51 cm); females average 16 inches (41 cm); Woodland Park Zoo male: 21 ounces (594 g); Woodland Park Zoo female: 18 ounces (503 g). Wild Palawan peacock pheasants may weigh less.
» Life Span: Life span in the wild is unknown; up to 15 years in zoos.
» Diet: In the wild: Seeds, grains, nuts, fruit, leaves, roots, insects, worms and slugs.
0 comments: