Minnesota Seasons - Ring-necked Pheasant

Conservation • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy

Conservation Status

Photo by Molly and Robert Power

IUCN Red List

LC - Least Concern

NatureServe

NNA - Not applicable

SNA - Not applicable

Minnesota

not listed


	Description


	Size
	20″ to 36″ in length 31″ wingspan

	Voice


	Sign
	The track is of three toes pointing forward and a short toe pointing backward. The lateral two toes are straight, not curved. The track is 2″ to 3″ long and 1¾″ to 2¾″ wide. It looks like an arrow pointing in the opposite direction of travel. The short toe often does not register. When it does it appears as a nail hole just beyond the tip of the arrow.

	Similar Species



	Habitat
	Grasslands, croplands, cattail marshes


	Ecology
	Migration


	Nesting


	Food


	Distribution
	Nativity
	Native to eastern Europe

	Occurrence
	Common year-round resident.

	Maps
	The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union All Seasons Species Occurrence Map


	Taxonomy
	Class	Aves (birds)
	Order	Galliformes (landfowl)
	Family	Phasianidae (pheasants, grouse, and allies)
	Subfamily	Phasianinae (pheasants)
	Genus	Phasianus (pheasants)

	Subordinate Taxa
	Several subspecies have been introduced into North America. Most of these have been from the torquatus group. Variations in coloration are due to differences in and hybridization between the imported subspecies.

	*Caucasus pheasants (Phasianus colchicus colchicus)* group** Amu-Darya Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus zarudnyi) Bianchi’s Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus bianchii) Black-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus colchicus) Persian Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus persicus) South Caspian Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus talischensis) Syr-Darya Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus turcestanicus) West Caspian Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus septentrionalis) Zerafshan Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus zerafschanicus) *Chinese ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus torquatus)* group** Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus alaschanicus) Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus satscheuensis) Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus suehschanensis) Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus vlangalii) Formosan Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus formosanus) Gray-rumped Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus torquatus) Korean Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus karpowi) Kweichow Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus decollatus) Palla’s Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus pallasi) Rothschild’s Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus rothschildi) Shansi Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus kiangsuensis) Sohokhoto Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus sohokhotensis) Stone's Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus elegans) Strauch’s Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus strauchi) Tonkinese Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus takatsukasae) *Tarim pheasants (Phasianus colchicus tarimensis)* group** Tarim Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus tarimensis) Yarkand Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus shawii) *Mongolian ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus mongolicus)* group** Gobi Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus edzinensis) Kirghiz Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus mongolicus) Kobdo Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus hagenbecki) *White-winged pheasants (Phasianus colchicus chrysomelas/principalis)* group** Khivan Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus chrysomelas) Prince of Wales’s Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus principalis)

	Synonyms



	Visitor Photos

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	Mike Poeppe




	Dan W. Andree

	Pheasant in flight...


	Rooster Pheasant.....



	Molly and Robert Power




	Lynn Rubey

	Male Ring-necked Pheasant on The Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge foraging in the Tall Grass Prairie.


	A female Ring neck Pheasant in flight in the Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge.



	Kirk Nelson





	MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos

	Tracks

Camera


	Slideshows


	Ring-necked Pheasant Allen Chartier




	Ring-necked Pheasant Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren




	Ring-necked Pheasant JMC Nature Photos

slideshow


	Visitor Videos

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	Other Videos


	Ring Neck pheasants Fighting Webster, Minnesota 2/5/2013 tinypbaby2002

	About Published on Feb 5, 2013 2 Ring Neck Pheasants Fighting near my Feeder Webster Minnesota 2/5/2013 Jerry Tiny Peterson



	Ring Necked Pheasant johnfredeen

	About Uploaded on Jan 22, 2011 Ring necked pheasant crowing.



	Ring Necked Pheasant \| Male \| Maine \| South Berwick \| New England Wildlife \| 1080i \| 24P \| 24PA BudJillett

	About Uploaded on Feb 16, 2010 Some hand-held 1080i 24PA shots of a male ring necked pheasant that was outside my door February 2010.



	Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) Mark George

	About Published on Apr 8, 2012 Filmed in East Sussex, England



	Common Pheasant, male (Phasianus colchicus) - 2013-03-31 W3stlander

	About Published on Apr 3, 2013 The Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus),male, is a bird in the pheasant family (Phasianidae). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Pheasant ---------------- De fazant (Phasianus colchicus), mannetje (ook wel een fazanthaan genoemd) is een vogel uit de familie van fazantachtigen (Phasianidae). http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fazant

Camcorder


Visitor Sightings

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Mike Poeppe 2/4/2023	Location: just west of Houston, MN



Dan W. Andree 3/6/2021	Location: Rural Norman Co. Mn.



Molly and Robert Power 3/21/2021	Location: Albany MN



Dan W. Andree 3/6/2021	Location: Rural Norman County, Mn



Lynn Rubey 6/11/2019	Location: Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge Male Ring-necked Pheasant on The Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge foraging in the Tall Grass Prairie.



Lynn Rubey 1/1/2019	Location: Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge A female Ring neck Pheasant in flight in the Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge.



Kirk Nelson 5/30/2015	Location: Joseph A. Tauer Prairie SNA



MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

Afton State Park Antelope Valley SNA Avon Hills Forest SNA, North Unit Big Stone Lake State Park Big Woods Heritage Forest WMA Blaine Wetland Sanctuary Blue Mounds State Park Bur Oak WMA Cambria WMA Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center Carver Park Reserve Cedar Mountain SNA Chippewa Prairie Clinton Prairie SNA Cottonwood River Prairie SNA Des Moines River SNA Edward Velishek Memorial WMA Elm Creek Park Reserve Franconia Bluffs SNA Glacial Lakes Preserve Glynn Prairie SNA Grey Cloud Dunes SNA Hole-in-the-Mountain Prairie Hythecker Prairie SNA Iron Horse Prairie SNA John Peter Hoffman Spring Brook Valley WMA Joseph A. Tauer Prairie SNA Kettledrummer Prairie Kilen Woods State Park Lake Louise State Park Lost Valley Prairie SNA Lundblad Prairie SNA McKnight Prairie Miller Prairie, West Unit Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area, Lawrence Unit Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve Myre-Big Island State Park Northern Tallgrass Prairie NWR, Hoffman Unit Otter Tail Prairie SNA Prairie Creek WMA, Koester Prairie Unit Red Rock Prairie Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge River Terrace Prairie SNA Robert Ney Memorial Park Reserve Rock Ridge Prairie SNA Rockville County Park St. Croix Savanna SNA Savage Fen SNA Schaefer Prairie Sedan Brook Prairie SNA Seminary Fen SNA Seven Springs WMA Shooting Star Prairie SNA Spring Creek Prairie SNA Staffanson Prairie Stanley Eddy Memorial Park Reserve Sunfish Lake Park Tamarack Nature Center Tiedemann WMA Tribute WMA Twin Lakes SNA Vermillion Highlands Research Recreation and WMA Vermillion River WMA Wahpeton Prairie WMA Whitetail Woods Regional Park Woodbury WMA Woodland Trails Regional Park