Killer Pheasant

[Blackbrook Eye]

I sat waiting for a covey of Red legged partridge to get within range when a pheasant some distance away started acting strangely, it was hopping up and down and stamping among the corn stubble. After a few minutes it set off at a fair old lick across the ground. To my surprise it had a field vole, obviously very dead, in its beak. Stopping every few yards it dropped the vole, had a look around picked up the vole and ran on again. It left me wondering how regular this happens and if this kind of thing had been witnessed by others.
I was struggling for light at the time and the bird was moving quite quickly, accounting for a fair degree of motion blur in the picture, however I think it is sufficiently sharp to illustrate the point.

Keith.

[Wild-Woman]

Didn't know they ate voles but I do know they eat young adders.

[rossy]

i can honestly say ive not heard of this before and dont really know what a pheasants diet consists of but hopefully someone on here will have , took you by surprise i take it . like they say you learn something new everyday. rossy

[Ukwildlifeo]

Wow thats a sight. I wouldnt have thought a pheasant was quick enough to catch a vole - perhaps it was a weak/old vole?

[Jonathan]

Originally Posted by Blackbrook Eye

It left me wondering how regular this happens and if this kind of thing had been witnessed by others.

Pheasant will readily take voles, mice or any other small mammals, reptiles or amphibians they can catch - they're fairly omniverous. Some cock pheasant are also cannibalistic and will kill young pheasant chicks. Chickens too will kill mice. We had Old English Game in Scotland and they would hover around (not literally!) whenever we were cleaning out the sheds, snatching any house or wood mice (we had both) disturbed.

Cheers
Jonathan

[Blackbrook Eye]

Thats very interesting Johnathan, thanks for the information. Its certainly the first time I have witnessed anything like it.

Keith

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

Pheasant will readily take voles, mice or any other small mammals, reptiles or amphibians they can catch - they're fairly omniverous. Some cock pheasant are also cannibalistic and will kill young pheasant chicks. Chickens too will kill mice. We had Old English Game in Scotland and they would hover around (not literally!) whenever we were cleaning out the sheds, snatching any house or wood mice (we had both) disturbed.

Cheers
Jonathan

It does make you wonder what effect releasing 1000's of these alien birds into our countryside has...

[davejg]

When I kept golden pheasants i saw the male nail mice twice in its run.

[Blackbrook Eye]

Originally Posted by Ukwildlifeo

It does make you wonder what effect releasing 1000's of these alien birds into our countryside has...

Probably, on balance, the effect is beneficial to our native wildlife as many of the uncultivated areas still to be found in the countryside are there for the benefit of rearing gamebirds for the shooting fraternity. If there was little or no value in leaving areas uncultivated for human food production the landowners would be quick to reclaim as much as possible to maximise profits. Feeding stations set up to provide for gamebirds, also supply food for wild creatures including the field vole and others which are also predated by those higher up the chain. For the past few years there has been a small field of maise, close to my patch, which was left to its own devises as pheasant cover, at almost any time of the day you would find Kestrels hunting over this field; This year it was ploughed up and I rarely see a Kestrel around the area at all. So the jury must be out regarding this issue.

Keith

[werdnal]

Our chickens have eaten mice, when they can catch them. Also we used to have one that would swallow whole frogs like a seagull swallowing a fish - not a pretty sight. So I can quite understand a pheasant taking a vole.

I have seen a magpie catch them in the past too, fly up and drop to stun, then carry it away.