Sorry, ID needed ... new to me

[muckshifter]

Can't find this in my books.

Pheasant, I think, does have a long tail that I seemed to have chopped off in the photo ... just not seen one this colour before.




regards
mucks

[mrs fish]

Looks like a female pheasant to me, it is only the males that are colourful

[Dae]

Well it indeed is a pheasant, though are we sure it's female? It's got that shiny green starting on the neck that reminds me of the male. Perhaps a juvenile?

[mrs fish]

Do juveniles not have tails, or only short ones ?

[Dae]

I'm not really sure, if I'm honest. In either case, most certainly a pheasant.

[dunlin]

Id say its a female common pheasant.It does look darker than normal but according to my book you get quite a large degree of plumage variation from pure white to very dark birds.

....regards mark n...

[Pete Collins]

These dark pheasants have been discussed previously on a couple of threads, which you might find helpful:

Black Pheasant

What on earth is this bird?!

[muckshifter]

ah, thanks for that Mr Collins.

mucks'ly appreciated.

[Dae]

That makes complete sense, i forgot about the melanistic forms of the pheasant. Thanks for bringing that up Pete. Will have to file it in my admittedly faulty memory banks.

[Pete Collins]

You're welcome, Muckshifter and Dae!

I just remembered those threads because I'd seen some very dark pheasants in Hertfordshire and had wondered about them.