Blue / Green Pheasant? [UK] (1 Viewer)

[HeartGraffiti]

I've had pheasants outside my house for as long as I can remember but over the past year or so one has shown up that has an entirely different colouring. I was hoping someone would have more information on this. I know very little about birds but I'm assuming it might be some sort of genetic anomaly? It appears to have the blue/green feathers all over it's body that most male pheasants just have around their neck. Also, I have no idea if this is related or not, but less "impressive" males with a strange colouring have also shown up which are darker all over and almost black.

(sorry for the bad image quality)

 

[Chris G6 UXU]

It is a Melanistic Pheasant, hth.

 

[Corvus cornix]

Hi and welcome to Bird Forum.

The bird is a "Michigan Blue" strain of Pheasant. They're an American strain becoming more popular over here as they're apparently considered "more sporting" as they fly higher and faster than "ordinary" pheasants.

Cheers

 

[stevethehydra]

Birds like this are often referred to as "tenebrosus" pheasants (although as I understand it "tenebrosus" isn't actually a subspecies but an informal name for a colour morph) - some info here: http://www.gobirding.eu/Photos/Pheasant.php (scroll about 1/4 down the page) and here: http://gobirdingeu.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/green-pheasants.html

Your bird does look particularly like a Japanese Green Pheasant (although of course it is too dark to be a "pure" one), but there seems to be a spectrum of "tenebrosus" types from birds as extreme as yours to various intermediates between yours and typical Common Pheasant. I've never seen one as green as yours but have seen ones resembling the "less extreme" types seen at the links (and then there was the bird I got an infuriatingly brief glimpse of once in the North York Moors, which was probably one of these but I couldn't be absolutely sure it wasn't a Black Grouse...) There has been speculation that "tenebrosus" pheasants have some Japanese Green Pheasant ancestry (people do breed hybrids between JGP and Common Pheasant), but no proof AFAIK, so they could just be a colour morph of Common Pheasants.

 

[BillN]

I see a few every year in SW France, (before they are shot by the locals!)