Pheasant in courtship dress by Rinnie Wijnstra (FotoAmeland )

About "Pheasant in courtship dress"

by Rinnie Wijnstra (FotoAmeland )

About the artwork

Appearance
Pheasants are Galliformes, introduced to Western Europe by the Romans at the beginning of our era. The males are colorful and the females have a light brown camouflage color and are therefore hardly noticed during breeding. The pheasants found in the Netherlands are mainly hybrids between different subspecies, originating from areas stretching from the Caucasus through China to Japan. There are roosters with a black neck with a white neck ring. On the back of the head the cockerel has two tufts and on its legs spurs. These are small in young cocks and large in older cocks.

Roosters have a length of 80 cm, including an up to 45 cm long tail consisting of eighteen pins. The hen is a lot smaller at 60 cm, with a tail of about 25 cm. The pheasant has short round wings of about 25 cm. The weight of a cock is on average 1400 grams and 1200 grams for a hen.
In the mating season, the roosters can fight each other enormously. The naked skin of the head and neck swells up and forms bright red cockerels, called wattles and "roses".

Biotope
Pheasants can be found in a wide variety of areas, but prefer a moist biotope of ruggedness with open land and the necessary structural variation. Ditch banks and ditches, reed beds, soil deposits, woodlots and girths with adequate cover are favorites.
The pheasant also occurs in forest areas, but a park landscape with lots of bushes is preferred. On overgrown fields in the agricultural area the pheasant does well.