The Ring Necked Pheasant

Hello Feathered Friends. Happy Feathered Friday. I have a pheasant story to share.

In Korea, pheasants are very shy for some reason. I've been trying for years to take nice photos of them, but they always run away.

Well last week, I took a picture of some ring-necked (common) pheasants near my house.

I saw 2 cocks and 2 hens. Do you prefer cocks or hens? Personally, I find cocks to be more beautiful. Let's be mature here kids, we are talking about male birds. That cleared up, I think most people prefer cocks. They usually tend to be more beautiful (or too similar to notice the difference) than females and they just love showing off.

Here we can see the cock hunting in the grasses. I'm not sure what pheasants eat, probably seeds. I doubt they eat people since they tend to be shy and run away. However, people do eat pheasants.

I've tried it a couple of times, but not hunting. Did you know pheasant sashimi (raw meat) is orange? It's alright.

Here is the 2nd cock I saw. If you look very carefully, you may see 2 females in the background. The other cock was down the road about 50m and I couldn't get him into the same frame while zooming. I was about 70m away from these guys and I consider that close.

Here is a slightly better shot of one of the females. They are a lot shyer for some reason, maybe because they are far less attractive than the males. Also, the males tend to stand out in the open where they can get a better view to warn the females and young. I didn't see any young. I'm not sure where they breed, but there are some stray and wild dogs in that field from time to time and they will attack.

Here is a nice photo of the cock standing erect looking for danger. I'm pretty sure he knew I was lurking around since I was up higher than him and out in the open. But I think he is looking for people who enter that field. There is a fence around it which keeps people out. In case you are wondering, this is the same field where I saw the wild deer (I'm not sure I shared any of the good photos yet. I'll have a look later).

Here is one last photo of the pheasant. He has his tail up now. I think he is going to warn people soon. If you are ever in a field and there is no farm nearby and you hear something that sounds like a chicken, be on the lookout for these guys. Chances are they've spotted you if you hear their sounds. As colorful as they are, they do know how to hide and run away.