Ring-necked Pheasant, any bird of the family Phasianidae (order Galliformes) that is larger than a quail or partridge. Most pheasants--some 50 species in about 16 genera of the subfamily Phasianinae--are long-tailed birds of open woodlands and fields, where they feed in small flocks. All have hoarse calls and a variety of other notes. The males of most species are strikingly coloured; the females are inconspicuously coloured. A male pheasant--pugnacious in breeding season--has one or more leg spurs and may have fleshy ornaments on the face. Courting males sometimes fight to the death in the presence of hens, who seem utterly indifferent to the commotion.

The centre of distribution of pheasants was originally from China to Malaysia is one of 48 species of pheasants. Since being introduced in 1790 and again in 1880, the ring-necked pheasant has become one of the most popular game birds in North America.. Several species, however, have been naturalized elsewhere--two thousand years ago or so in Anatolia and Europe--and many are prized as ornamentals in zoos and private collections; they are also raised for sport in shooting preserves. Some species have been brought to the verge of extinction by hunting.

The common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus; see photograph) has 20-30 races ranging across Asia. Birds naturalized elsewhere are mixtures of races, with the gray-rumped ringneck (or Chinese) strain usually dominating.

The pheasant prefers grain fields near brushy cover. The male, about 90 cm (35 inches) long, with streaming, narrow, cross-barred tail, has a brown back and coppery breast, purplish-green neck, and two small ear tufts; his entire body is speckled and barred. He collects a harem of about three brownish, relatively short-tailed hens. The grassy nest contains about 10 eggs, which hatch in three to four weeks.

"Ring-Necked Pheasant," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 96 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1995 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.