Phasianus colchicus
Silhouette: Mattia Menchetti · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), ring-necked pheasant, or blue-headed pheasant, is a bird in the pheasant family (Phasianidae). The genus name comes from Latin phasianus 'pheasant'. The species name colchicus is Latin for 'of Colchis' (modern day Georgia), a country on the Black Sea where pheasants became known to Europeans. Although Phasianus was previously thought to be closely related to the genus Gallus, the genus of junglefowl and domesticated chickens, recent studies show that they are in different subfamilies, having diverged over 20 million years ago.
It is native to Asia, where it is widespread, and also to the extreme southeast of Europe in the northern foothills of the Caucasus Mountains. It has been widely introduced elsewhere as a game bird. In parts of its range, mainly in places where none of its relatives occurs such as in Europe, where it is naturalised, it is simply known as the pheasant. Ring-necked pheasant is both the collective name for a number of subspecies and their intergrades that have white neck rings and the name used for the species as a whole in North America.
It is a well-known gamebird, among those of more than regional importance perhaps the most widespread and ancient one in the whole world. The common pheasant is one of the world's most hunted birds; it has been introduced for that purpose to many regions and is also common on game farms, where it is commercially bred. The ring-necked subspecies group in particular are commonly bred and were introduced to many parts of the world; the game farm stock, though no distinct breeds have been developed yet, can be considered semi-domesticated. The ring-necked pheasant is the state bird of South Dakota, one of only two US state birds that is not a species native to the United States.
The green pheasant (P. versicolor) of Japan is sometimes considered a subspecies of the common pheasant. Though the species produce fertile hybrids wherever they coexist, this is simply a typical feature among fowl (Galloanseres), in which postzygotic isolating mechanisms are slight compared to most other birds. The species apparently have somewhat different ecological requirements and at least in its typical habitat, the green pheasant outcompetes the common pheasant. The introduction of the latter to Japan has therefore largely failed. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 2 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 3 | Hortobágy National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 4 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 7 | Egmont National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 8 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 9 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Jiuzhaigou National Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 11 | Biebrza National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 12 | Rottnest Island | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 13 | Badlands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 15 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 16 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Ring-necked Pheasant sighting in Barcelona on a given day, based on 434 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 61st most-seen of the 215 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and March–September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Ring-necked Pheasant in Barcelona on a given day, against under 5% in February and October–December, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ring-necked Pheasant sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
36th of 71
Of the 71 cities where we can rate Ring-necked Pheasant sightings, Barcelona ranks 36th at about 10%. The best odds are in Tashkent (Uzbekistan, about 50%), Almaty (Kazakhstan, about 50%) and Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan, about 40%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ring-necked Pheasant is recorded against all the birds logged in Barcelona (434 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
