Pheasant Facts

Phasianus colchicus

The Common Pheasant

Over the last few weeks I've seen thousands of Pheasant on my travels around East Anglia.They are native to Asia and there is a school of thought that the Romans brought them to Britain although conclusive evidence is lacking on this count but what is known is that by the 10th century they were breeding wild in Britain and were common by the 15th century. During the 20th century the Pheasant represented a tiny percentage of the birds shot as game with the Grey Partridge making up the largest part of the bag but by the turn of the century the Pheasant had become 60% of the bag and remains the most taken game bird in the UK. Although the Pheasant is now a British breeding bird it's numbers are helped by the release of around 35 million birds annually with around 15 million of these falling to the shotgun with the open season for shooting the Pheasant running from 1st October to 1st February. Foxes predate a similar amount both before and during the game season with the others falling to road accidents and other predation. A very small percentage will survive to boost the wild population but it's very likely that the vast majority of released birds don't make their first birthday and the BTO longevity record for Pheasant stands at just 2 years and 1 month so the next time you see a Pheasant spare a thought for it's fight for survival.