Common pheasants are native to Asia and parts of Europe, their original range extending from the eastern
Black Sea and the
Caspian Sea to
Manchuria,
Siberia,
Korea, Mainland China, and
Taiwan. The birds are found in woodland, farmland, scrub, and wetlands. In their natural habitat, common pheasants live in grassland near water with small
copses of trees, and are tolerant of both dry and humid soils. Wherever they are hunted they are always timid once they associate humans with danger, and will quickly retreat for safety after hearing the arrival of hunting parties in the area. While common pheasants are able short-distance fliers, they prefer to run. If startled however, they can suddenly burst upwards at great speed, with a distinctive "whirring" wing sound and often giving
kok kok kok calls to alert
conspecifics. Their flight speed is only when cruising but when chased they can fly up to .
Nesting Common pheasants nest solely on the ground in scrapes, lined with some grass and leaves, frequently under dense cover or a hedge. Occasionally they will nest in a haystack, or old nest left by other bird. They roost in sheltered trees at night. The males are
polygynous as is typical for many Phasianidae, and are often accompanied by a harem of several females. Additionally it seems that they had a continuous range in Turkey from the Sea of Marmara on the edge of the Balkans, across the northern shore of the country till Caucasus. The last remnants of the Balkan population survive in the Kotza-Orman riparian forest of Nestos, in
Greece with an estimated population of 100–200 adult birds. In
Bulgaria they were lost in the 1970s because they hybridised with introduced eastern subspecies. Besides the Balkans the species lives in Europe in the area north of Caucasus where the local subspecies
P.c.septentrionalis survives pure around the lower reaches of the Samur River. Reintroduction efforts in the rest of the north Caucasian range may include hybrid birds.
As an introduced species s, as seen here in
Litovelské Pomoraví Protected Landscape Area in the Czech Republic. in the United Kingdom Common pheasants can be found across the globe due to their readiness to breed in captivity and the fact that they can naturalise in many climates, but are known to be introduced in Europe (apart from the extreme southeast, where native), North America,
Japan and
New Zealand. Pheasants were hunted in their natural range by
Stone Age humans just like the
grouse and
partridges that inhabited Europe at that time. The common pheasant was originally introduced to Europe during the
Roman period. Recipes for preparing pheasant meat were discussed by
Marcus Gavius Apicius in the first century AD; pheasant husbandry is also discussed by
Columella in the same century and, based on the former's writings, by
Rutilius Taurus Aemilianus Palladius in
De Re Rustica in 350 AD. However, it became
extinct from most of Britain in the early 17th century. There were further re-introductions of 'white neck-ringed' birds in the 18th century. It was rediscovered as a game bird in the 1830s after being ignored for many years in an amalgam of forms. Since then it has been reared extensively by
gamekeepers and is shot in season from 1 October to 31 January. Pheasants are moderately adapted to the British climate and breed naturally in small numbers in the wild without human supervision in copses, heaths and commons. Imported stock has originated from a number of other subspecies in addition to
P. c. colchicus and
P. c. torquatus, including the Prince of Wales pheasant (
P. c. principalis), the Mongolian pheasant (
P. c. mongolicus), the Satchu pheasant (
P. c. satscheuensis), and Pallas's pheasant (
P. c. pallasi), alongside the related
green pheasant. Extensive interbreeding has occurred between these stocks, so that most British pheasants are of mixed heritage and display an at least partial neck ring, and the "Old English" type is no longer encountered in its original form. Common British phenotypes include a cream-coloured variant termed the "Bohemian" pheasant and a melanistic form derived from partly green pheasant ancestry. By 1950 pheasants bred throughout the British Isles, although they were scarce in
Ireland. Because around 47,000,000 pheasants are released each year on shooting estates, it is widespread in distribution, although most released birds survive less than a year in the wild. The Bohemian was most likely seen in
North Norfolk. The
Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust is researching the breeding success of reared pheasants and trying to find ways to improve this breeding success to reduce the demand to release as many reared pheasants and increase the wild population. As the original Caucasian stock all but disappeared during the Early Modern era, most 'dark-winged ringless' birds in the UK are actually descended from 'Chinese ring-necked' and 'green pheasant' hybrids, with the first large-scale successful introduction occurring in 1881 in the
Williamette Valley of
Oregon, followed by
Washington in 1883 and
California in 1889. Stocking of large pheasant populations in the plains and eastern states occurred in following decades after successful hunting seasons were recorded in the western states. Pheasants have become well established throughout much of the
Rocky Mountain states (
Colorado,
Idaho,
Montana,
Wyoming, etc.), the
Midwest, the
Plains states, as well as
Canada and
Mexico. Nest parasitism, or
brood parasitism, is common in pheasants because of their propensity to nest near other birds and the fact that nesting requirements are similar to those of other prairie birds and
waterfowl that inhabit the same areas. This phenomenon has been observed in
grey partridges;
prairie chickens; several types of
duck, rail,
grouse,
turkeys, and others. Birds are supplied both to
hunting preserves/estates and restaurants, with smaller numbers being available for home cooks. Pheasants often compete with other native birds for resources. Studies have shown that they can lead to decreased populations of
bobwhites and
partridges due to habitat and food competition. Insects are a valuable food source for both pheasants and partridges and competition may lead to decreased populations of partridges. Pheasants may also introduce disease, such as
blackhead, to native populations. While pheasants tolerate the infection well, other birds such as
ruffed grouse,
chukar, and grey partridge are highly susceptible. Pheasants also have a tendency to harass or kill other birds. One study noted that in pheasant vs. prairie chicken interactions, the pheasants were victorious 78% of the time.
Management strategies A variety of management strategies have been suggested for areas that are home to species that are particularly threatened by pheasants, such as the prairie chickens and grey partridge. These strategies include mowing grass to decrease the nesting cover preferred by pheasants, decreasing pheasant roosting habitat, shooting pheasants in organised hunts, trapping and removing them from areas where there are high concentrations of birds of threatened species, and others.
Population change In the United Kingdom, about 50 million pheasants reared in captivity are released each summer, a number which has significantly increased since the 1980s. Most of these birds are shot during the open season (1 October to 1 February), and few survive for a year. The result is a wildly fluctuating population, from 50 million in July to less than 5 million in June. This is likely due to changes in farming practices, application of
pesticides,
habitat fragmentation, and increased predation due to changes in crops grown. Many crops beneficial for pheasants (such as
barley) are not being farmed as much in favour of using the land for more lucrative crops, such as nut trees. Many of these new crops are detrimental to pheasant survival. Pheasant hens also experience higher levels of
predation in areas without patches of grassland. ==Relationship with humans==