Home/Species/ Ring-necked Pheasant

Phasianus colchicus

Linnaeus, 1758

Ring-necked Pheasant

G5Secure Found in 46 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101333

Element CodeABNLC07010

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassAves

OrderGalliformes

FamilyPhasianidae

GenusPhasianus

Other Common Names

Faisan de Colchide (FR) Faisán de Collar (ES)

Concept Reference

Liu, S., Y. Liu, E. Jelen, M. Alibadian, C. -T. Yao, X. Li, N. Kayvanfar, Y. Wang, F. S. M. Vahidi, J. -L. Han, G. Sundev, Z. Zhang, and M. Schweizer. 2020. Regional drivers of diversification in the late Quaternary in a widely distributed generalist species, the Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus. Journal of Biogeography 47:2714-2727.

Taxonomic Comments

Phasianus versicolor (endemic to Japan) has been considered conspecific with P. colchicus in North America (AOU 1998). They are recognized as distinct species following Liu et al. 2020 and AviList based on reproductive behavior and genetics.

Conservation Status

Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2

Review Date2016-04-09

Change Date1996-11-25

Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences> 300

Range Extent Comments

This species native range is extensive and fragmented, extending from Bulgaria and Greece, east along the Turkish shores of the Black Sea and southern shores of the Caspian Sea to the northern slope of the Himalayas, then north into China and Korea, and south to the borders of Vietnam, plus the island of Taiwan (Giudice et al. 2022). It can be found throughout much of Asia, Europe, and North America as well as Chile, Hawaii, New Zealand and Flinders and King Islands between mainland Australia and Tasmania due to a pattern of multiple introductions, local extinctions, and reintroductions plus the oft-annual release of birds into many areas where hunted (Giudice et al. 2022).

Occurrences Comments

This wide-ranging species is known from a large number of occurrences.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Open country (especially cultivated areas, scrubby wastes, open woodland and edges of woods), grassy steppe, desert oases, riverside thickets, swamps and open mountain forest (AOU 1983). Winter shelter includes bushes and trees along streams, shelterbelts, and fencerows. Usually nests in fields, brushy edges, or pastures, also along road rights-of-way. Nest is shallow depression scratched out by female.

Ecology

Usually ranges over no more than approximately 2-3 km (Terres 1980). In fall family groups may join and form flocks of 30-40 birds. Flocks break up in spring.

Reproduction

Usually 10-12, sometimes 5-23 eggs are laid in one nest. Two hens may lay eggs in same nest. Incubation lasts 23-25 days. Precocial young are tended by female.

Terrestrial Habitats

Woodland - HardwoodWoodland - ConiferWoodland - MixedShrubland/chaparralSavannaGrassland/herbaceousOld fieldDesertCropland/hedgerow

Palustrine Habitats

FORESTED WETLANDRiparian

Other Nations (2)

United StatesNNA

Province	Rank	Native
Oklahoma	SNA	No
Tennessee	SNA	No
Alabama	SNA	No
New Hampshire	SNA	No
Iowa	SNA	No
Wisconsin	SNA	No
Maryland	SNA	No
South Carolina	SNA	No
New York	SNA	No
New Mexico	SNA	No
North Dakota	SNA	No
West Virginia	SNA	No
Florida	SNA	No
Vermont	SNA	No
Oregon	SNA	No
Arkansas	SNA	No
Indiana	SNA	No
Kansas	SNA	No
Navajo Nation	SNA	No
Idaho	SNA	No
Delaware	SNA	No
South Dakota	SNA	No
New Jersey	SNA	No
Nevada	SNA	No
Mississippi	SNA	No
Texas	SNA	No
Colorado	SNA	No
Illinois	SNA	No
Virginia	SNA	No
Wyoming	SNA	No
Massachusetts	SNA	No
California	SNA	No
Minnesota	SNA	No
Ohio	SNA	No
Rhode Island	SNA	No
Maine	SNA	No
Arizona	SNA	No
Nebraska	SNA	No
Montana	SNA	No
North Carolina	SNA	No
Kentucky	SNA	No
Pennsylvania	SNA	No
Missouri	SNA	No
Connecticut	SNA	No
Washington	SNA	No
Utah	SNA	No
Michigan	SNA	No
Hawaii	SNA	No

CanadaNNA

Province	Rank	Native
Saskatchewan	SNA	No
Prince Edward Island	SNA	No
Labrador	SNA	No
Island of Newfoundland	SNA	No
Manitoba	SNA	No
Alberta	SNA	No
Nova Scotia	SNA	No
Ontario	SNA	No
New Brunswick	SNA	No
British Columbia	SNA	No

Roadless Areas (46)

California (3)

Area	Forest	Acres
Mt. Reba	Stanislaus National Forest	3,869
Raymond Peak	Stanislaus National Forest	3,646
Wonoga Pk.	Inyo National Forest	11,272

Idaho (3)

Area	Forest	Acres
Hoodoo	Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest	153,868
Pioneer Mountains	Sawtooth National Forest	119,563
Pioneer Mountains	Salmon-Challis National Forest	172,460

Montana (8)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bear - Marshall - Scapegoat - Swan	Lewis and Clark National Forest	344,022
Big Snowy Mountains Wsa	Lewis and Clark National Forest	88,003
Bmss Ra 1485	Flathead National Forest	334,275
Bridger	Gallatin National Forest	45,059
Buckhorn Ridge (MT)	Kootenai National Forest	34,716
Madison	Gallatin National Forest	127,859
Mt. Gmt Area H	Custer National Forest	1,335
Selway - Bitterroot (01067)	Bitterroot National Forest	114,953

Nevada (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Santa Rosa	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	54,555

North Dakota (4)

Area	Forest	Acres
Blacktail	Dakota Prairie Grasslands	8,620
Delamere	Dakota Prairie Grasslands	5,087
Long X Divide	Dakota Prairie Grasslands	10,099
Sheyenne	Dakota Prairie Grasslands	14,537

Oregon (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Hellhole	Umatilla National Forest	65,679
Hurricane Creek	Wallowa-Whitman National Forest	1,606

Pennsylvania (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Allegheny Front	Allegheny National Forest	7,430

South Dakota (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
First Black Canyon	Buffalo Gap National Grassland	4,965

Utah (15)

Area	Forest	Acres
418016	Uinta National Forest	35,240
418024	Uinta National Forest	51,699
418025	Uinta National Forest	32,698
418027	Uinta National Forest	13,884
Beehive Peak	Fishlake National Forest	59,137
Boulder Mountain	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	8,852
Boulder Mtn. / Boulder Top / Deer Lake	Dixie National Forest	110,690
Horse Mountain - Mans Peak	Manti-Lasal National Forest	22,159
Mahogany Range	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	11,409
Mt. Logan North	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	18,930
Mt. Logan South	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	17,014
Mt. Naomi	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	41,922
Pavant	Fishlake National Forest	42,560
Right Hand Fork Logan	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	15,023
Wellsville	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	1,717

Virginia (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Brushy Mountain	Jefferson National Forest	4,168
Long Spur	Jefferson National Forest	6,417

Wyoming (6)

Area	Forest	Acres
Cloud Peak Contiguous	Bighorn National Forest	113,757
Grommund Creek	Bighorn National Forest	12,089
Middle Fork	Shoshone National Forest	51,772
Rock Creek	Bighorn National Forest	48,657
Walker Prairie	Bighorn National Forest	62,434
West Slope Winds	Bridger-Teton National Forest	143,252

References (15)

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
AviList Core Team. 2025. AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025. https://doi.org/10.2173/avilist.v2025
BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
Giudice, J. H., J. T. Ratti, and S. G. Mlodinow. 2022. Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (N. D. Sly, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rinphe1.01.1
Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
Howman, K. C. R. 1979. Pheasants, their breeding and management. 117 pp.
Liu, S., Y. Liu, E. Jelen, M. Alibadian, C. -T. Yao, X. Li, N. Kayvanfar, Y. Wang, F. S. M. Vahidi, J. -L. Han, G. Sundev, Z. Zhang, and M. Schweizer. 2020. Regional drivers of diversification in the late Quaternary in a widely distributed generalist species, the Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus. Journal of Biogeography 47:2714-2727.
McAtee, W.L. 1945. The ring-necked pheasant and its management in North America. Wash. 320 pp.
Peterson, R.T. 1980b. A field guide to the birds of eastern and central North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
Peterson, R.T. 1990b. A field guide to western birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
Pough, R. H. 1957. Audubon Western Bird Guide. Doubleday. 316 pp.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 511 pp.
Reichel, J. D., and P. O. Glass. 1991. Checklist of the birds of the Mariana Islands. Elepaio 50:3-11.
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.