black pheasants

[Paul mabbott]

I can't find a reference to this but while out today in Nottinghamshire (Derbyshire border near Creswell, arable land) we encountered 6+ black "pheasants". They walked like pheasants, they squawked like pheasants, bit smaller than the common pheasant but from what I could see, virtually all black. Can anyone enlighten me, please?

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

I can't find a reference to this but while out today in Nottinghamshire (Derbyshire border near Creswell, arable land) we encountered 6+ black "pheasants". They walked like pheasants, they squawked like pheasants, bit smaller than the common pheasant but from what I could see, virtually all black. Can anyone enlighten me, please?

Sounds like they might be Japanese or Green Pheasants ( these are much darker) which depending on the taxonomist is a subspecies of Common Pheasant or a closely related species, Phasianus versicolor.

[Jez]

My uncle told me that he had encountered black pheasants in the past. The closest we get around Bewdley are deep blue!

[diggleken]

I think they will be ordinary pheasant females - they are often quite blackish - I have been surprised too in the past.
Ken

[ron1863]

Probably a melanistic pheasant - more melanin than normal, which turns the pheasants plumage black.

[NickCantle]

Originally Posted by diggleken

I think they will be ordinary pheasant females - they are often quite blackish - I have been surprised too in the past.
Ken

I don't know where you've been looking Ken, but 'ordinary female Pheasants' are not even close to a black colour They're a straw to sienna brown.

[Jez]

Originally Posted by ron1863

Probably a melanistic pheasant - more melanin than normal, which turns the pheasants plumage black.

I just googled black pheasant and it comes up with melanistic mutant which is a pure breed but on the pic, looks like the bluey's we get around these parts. Seems we get the green and the ringed variety's also.

[Paul mabbott]

Yes, saw that - a USAmerican site ... who can say what they get up to.
I've got some pictures but don't think they're worth uploading (you would know that I use a macro lens ) ... however, can do, if anyone doubts my observation that these were virtually all black.

I suppose two things to note are (a) that they were in arable land but plenty of "private woodland" in the area which suggests shooters to me and (b) at least four of these were in a group and stuck together, the others weren't far away and, I suspect, came from the same "family". On first sight I thought that they might be young pheasants seen against the light but came up with them and their kin so often that I was sure that they're not local pheasants. Because there are so many we can't take them as a genetic aberration. My suspicion is that, as in this original reference, this was a batch of USAmerican imports?

Originally Posted by Jez

I just googled black pheasant and it comes up with melanistic mutant which is a pure breed but on the pic, looks like the bluey's we get around these parts. Seems we get the green and the ringed variety's also.

[NickCantle]

Originally Posted by Jez

I just googled black pheasant and it comes up with melanistic mutant which is a pure breed but on the pic, looks like the bluey's we get around these parts. Seems we get the green and the ringed variety's also.

The green variety is the black variety. The same as the blue variety is the black variety. The black pheasants are bred specifically, they aren't melanistic. I remember about a year ago seeing lots of them and my Mother asked the farmer about them and apparently he said they were being bred specifically. Specifically for what, I do not know.

But yes, they look black upon first sight, but if you catch them in the sunlight, they are green, blue and nice and shiny!

Nick

[nye24]

Yes what you saw was most defo a melanistic pheasant,i use to be an under keeper years ago,but we never use to rear any of them.