ABOUT THE
PHEASANT
The first New Zealand pheasants
arrived from England in 1842 and
were released in the Wellington area,
with subsequent releases throughout the
country. By 1870, pheasants were fairly
abundant in both main islands.
Unfortunately following this successful
rise in numbers, the population dropped
quite dramatically. The reason for this
was twofold. At about the same time,
the introduced rabbit had also increased
significantly to a point where large
poison operations were conducted using
grain. Naturally the poor old pheasants
also succumbed to the poisoned food.
Further to that, our forefathers also
brought in mustelids as a second means
of trying to control the rabbit population.
Being a ground nesting and dwelling
species, pheasants were hit very hard
by these relentless predators. Pheasant
populations never recovered to the
same levels again, however there are
still enough birds in many areas of
New Zealand to allow hunting.
Male and female pheasants are very
different in appearance to a point where,
to the uninitiated, you would say they
were a different species altogether. The
most striking part of the very colourful
male or cock bird is the head and neck
area, which has iridescent blue-green
feathers underlined with a white collar
at the base of the neck, while bright redfacial wattles surround the eyes and hang
down from the cheeks. The body feathers
are red and brown with delicate white
margins, along with some black barring.
The ensemble is topped off with a long
red/brown tail with black bars – highly
sought after for trout fly-tying material.
As can be seen from the
accompanying image, the hen
pheasant is much less conspicuous
and is the master (mistress) of
camouflage. She is smaller in physical
size with a shorter tail and subtly marked
brown feathers with much finer black
barring. A female grows to about 60cm
and 1.2kg in weight, while the male
reaches 80cm and 1.5kg.
The male pheasant is a bit of character
when it comes to the breeding season.
He is polygamous, mating with a number
of females, as well as taking no part in the
nest building or incubation. Sounds like
a great life, doesn't it?! The nest is a very
simple bowl-shaped hollow in the grass
but is usually well hidden among thick
vegetation. A clutch averages nine eggs
and takes about 25 days to hatch, with
the chicks leaving the nest as soon as
they are dry. Incredibly, pheasant chicks
are able to fly short distances after only
12 days.
Outside the breeding season
pheasants lead a solitary life,
preferring to keep to themselves. They are
very wary birds with excellent eyesight,
resulting in many escaping unseen when
they are being hunted. When disturbed,their first 'port of call' is to run but
when pushed or pressured, they will
resort to erupting into vertical flight, then
flying fast and low until dropping back
into cover and often running on from
where they landed.SIGHTING,
APPROACHING &
PHOTOGRAPHING
Pheasants do not like damp
conditions (they have no down) so
dry, warm areas are good places to start
looking. Favoured habitats within those
drier areas include coastal dune country,
exotic forestry and spots with lupins,
broom, boxthorn, ink weed and briar
patches. Crop paddocks bordered by
thick scrub or hedgerows are also good
places to search out.
Bright sunny days will see the birds
moving about a lot from daybreak to mid-
morning and again from mid-afternoon
to dusk, so these times will increase your
chances of seeing them.
Being such a wary, alert and
suspicious bird, it’s not very
likely that you’ll sneak up on
an undisturbed pheasant for a
photograph by randomly wandering
around the countryside. With my limited
experience it is probably best to sit in
hiding at a spot where you have seen
birds frequently before.Cheers, Matt
Male pheasant (North Island
this time) in typical habitat.
1/320 @ f/7.1, ISO 80066 NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE ~August / September 2019ABOUT THE
PHEASANT
ThefirstNewZealandpheasants
arrivedfromEnglandin 1842 and
werereleasedintheWellingtonarea,
withsubsequentreleasesthroughoutthe
country.By1870,pheasantswerefairly
abundantinbothmainislands.
Unfortunatelyfollowingthissuccessful
riseinnumbers,thepopulationdropped
quitedramatically.Thereasonforthis
wastwofold.Ataboutthesametime,
theintroducedrabbithadalsoincreased
significantlytoa pointwherelarge
poisonoperationswereconductedusing
grain.Naturallythepooroldpheasants
alsosuccumbedtothepoisonedfood.
Furthertothat,ourforefathersalso
broughtinmustelidsasa secondmeans
oftryingtocontroltherabbitpopulation.
Beinga groundnestinganddwelling
species,pheasantswerehitveryhard
bytheserelentlesspredators.Pheasant
populationsneverrecoveredtothe
samelevelsagain,howeverthereare
stillenoughbirdsinmanyareasof
NewZealandtoallowhunting.
Maleandfemalepheasantsarevery
differentinappearancetoa pointwhere,
totheuninitiated,youwouldsaythey
werea differentspeciesaltogether.The
moststrikingpartoftheverycolourful
maleorcockbirdis theheadandneck
area,whichhasiridescentblue-green
feathersunderlinedwitha whitecollar
atthebaseoftheneck,whilebrightredfacial wattles surround the eyes and hang
down from the cheeks. The body feathers
are red and brown with delicate white
margins, along with some black barring.
The ensemble is topped off with a long
red/brown tail with black bars – highly
sought after for trout fly-tying material.
As can be seen from the
accompanying image, the hen
pheasant is much less conspicuous
and is the master (mistress) of
camouflage. She is smaller in physical
size with a shorter tail and subtly marked
brown feathers with much finer black
barring. A female grows to about 60cm
and 1.2kg in weight, while the male
reaches 80cm and 1.5kg.
The male pheasant is a bit of character
when it comes to the breeding season.
He is polygamous, mating with a number
offemales, as well as taking no part in the
nest building or incubation. Sounds like
a great life, doesn't it?! The nest is a very
simple bowl-shaped hollow in the grass
but is usually well hidden among thick
vegetation. A clutch averages nine eggs
and takes about 25 days to hatch, with
the chicks leaving the nest as soon as
they are dry. Incredibly, pheasant chicks
are able to fly short distances after only
12 days.
Outside the breeding season
pheasants lead a solitary life,
preferring to keep to themselves. They are
very wary birds with excellent eyesight,
resulting in many escaping unseen when
they are being hunted. When disturbed,their first 'port of call' is to run but
when pushed or pressured, they will
resort to erupting into vertical flight, then
flying fast and low until dropping back
into cover and often running on from
where they landed.SIGHTING,
APPROACHING &
PHOTOGRAPHING
Pheasants do not like damp
conditions (they have no down) so
dry, warm areas are good places to start
looking. Favoured habitats within those
drier areas include coastal dune country,
exotic forestry and spots with lupins,
broom, boxthorn, ink weed and briar
patches. Crop paddocks bordered by
thick scrub or hedgerows are also good
places to search out.
Bright sunny days will see the birds
moving about a lot from daybreak to mid-
morning and again from mid-afternoon
to dusk, so these times will increase your
chances of seeing them.
Being such a wary, alert and
suspicious bird, it’s not very
likely that you’ll sneak up on
an undisturbed pheasant for a
photograph by randomly wandering
around the countryside. With my limited
experience it is probably best to sit in
hiding at a spot where you have seen
birds frequently before.Cheers, Matt
Male pheasant (North Island
this time) in typical habitat.
1/320 @ f/7.1, ISO 80066 NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE ~August / September 2019