White Pheasant (1 Viewer)

[JonH]

I saw this whiite bird always at a distance several months ago. This was over a period of weeks and eventualy was fortunate to get close enough to get a picture and confirm that it was a pheasant. I'm sure it was a natural wild bird and not one that was released. Unfortunately the sighting and photo were also one of the last. ( hopefully the pic. will be attached )

 

[bill moss]

Hi Jonh,

Nice shot. Looks like an albino but I can't see on the photo whether the eyes are pink, they look dark. If they are then it's an extreme leucistic bird and very unusual; leucistic birds are usually just more pale rather than white.

I agree that it is most likely a wild-bred bird, I would have thought it very unlikely that the Gamekeepers would release a white one (around here they have been importing and releasing very dark ones (French breeding), apparently they fly stronger than the Ring-Necked.

Bill.

 

[saluki]

Hi Jonh,

Nice shot. Looks like an albino but I can't see on the photo whether the eyes are pink, they look dark. If they are then it's an extreme leucistic bird and very unusual; leucistic birds are usually just more pale rather than white.

I agree that it is most likely a wild-bred bird, I would have thought it very unlikely that the Gamekeepers would release a white one (around here they have been importing and releasing very dark ones (French breeding), apparently they fly stronger than the Ring-Necked.

Bill.

Keepers sometimes release a few white birds along with the normal coloured ones. If one is shot the offender has to pay a small fine (say 20 quid) - it's a way of keeping the guns on their toes - surprisingly difficult to tell apart from normal colour when one only sees a silhuette

saluki

 

[Gill Osborne]

Keepers sometimes release a few white birds along with the normal coloured ones. If one is shot the offender has to pay a small fine (say 20 quid) - it's a way of keeping the guns on their toes - surprisingly difficult to tell apart from normal colour when one only sees a silhuette...

I was only last night chatting to my neighbour who goes shooting and rears about 350+ Pheasants every year. He had a couple of white ones two years ago and warned the others that they would be fined if they hit the white birds. Thought it was just him being sentimental but obviously something which is done to sharpen up their skills with a gun.

Haven't seen any white ones up here but there's a field I pass every day on my drive to and from work and it often contains half a dozen or more dark green ( almost black from a distance! ) Pheasants. Stunning birds...I always keep my fingers crossed they get missed :-O

 

[Skelly]

There used to be a white Pheasant in fields near Chester-le-Street, haven't seen it for ages.

I was told that the gamekeepers release them so they can quickly see where their flocks are.

 

[bill moss]

HI Saluki,

Thank you, that's something that I didn't know. From that I assume that they are not albinos, but a specially reared strain?

Bill.

 

[Liebchen]

Hi Jonh,

Nice shot. Looks like an albino but I can't see on the photo whether the eyes are pink, they look dark. If they are then it's an extreme leucistic bird and very unusual; leucistic birds are usually just more pale rather than white.

Hi Bill and everyone.

I have a collared dove that comes into my garden that is a very pale grey-white but still has the black neck band and black eyes. It's quite noticable lighter in colour than the other doves. Is this what's called a leucistic bird and if not what is a leucistic bird?

Liebchen

 

[bill moss]

Hi liebchen,

Yes that sounds as though it's a leucistic bird. Leucism is a reduction in melanin, which is the dark pigmentation; it's a genetic trait. Typically birds will be paler than normal, with reduced colouration.

Here are some photos of a leucistic Collared Dove that was in my garden earlier this year, it has since disappeared.

Bill

 

[Silver Lady]

I saw this whiite bird always at a distance several months ago. This was over a period of weeks and eventualy was fortunate to get close enough to get a picture and confirm that it was a pheasant. I'm sure it was a natural wild bird and not one that was released. Unfortunately the sighting and photo were also one of the last. ( hopefully the pic. will be attached )

Hello JonH...

How fascinating...I have never seen a white pheasant, ever...well, until now that is!!...Thank you for the pic

Silver Lady

 

[Liebchen]

Hi liebchen,

Yes that sounds as though it's a leucistic bird. Leucism is a reduction in melanin, which is the dark pigmentation; it's a genetic trait. Typically birds will be paler than normal, with reduced colouration.

Here are some photos of a leucistic Collared Dove that was in my garden earlier this year, it has since disappeared.

Bill

Thank you for your help Bill. Nice to know I was on the right lines. |^|

The dove in my garden is even whiter than the one in your photos. That's why when I first saw it I thought it was an albino but I know that albinos have red eyes and this one hasn't. It was here again today. |:d|

Happy birdies, Liebchen

 

[Tobi]

Hello JonH...

How fascinating...I have never seen a white pheasant, ever...well, until now that is!!...Thank you for the pic

Silver Lady

We have 6 or 7 on the esate, the keepers like to see the odd one or two about.

They usually ensure that they breed a clutch from a white cock and hen most years, they keep the cocks for us and give the white hens away apart from 2 that they over winter in one of the rearing pens, catching up the cocks in Febuary once the shooting season is over.

 

[Keithec]

We have 6 or 7 on the esate, the keepers like to see the odd one or two about.

They usually ensure that they breed a clutch from a white cock and hen most years, they keep the cocks for us and give the white hens away apart from 2 that they over winter in one of the rearing pens, catching up the cocks in Febuary once the shooting season is over.

I find this all very interesting because I regularly saw a white pheasant pecking the ground around a garden feeder a couple of years ago at Bishops Norton in Gloucestershire. I wondered how it had survived to become an adult thinking that it was far more likely to be predated. However being released could explain that.

Keith

 

[bill moss]

Hi Tobi,

I also find this interesting. As I've said elsewhere we have lots of Pheasants roaming around just a little way away, including both 'normal' ones and much darker ones which I'm told are a seperate sub-species imported from France. But no White ones, so what are they, true albinos (pink eyes etc) or a white morph? And if the latter do you know where they came from?

Bill.

 

[JonH]

White Pheasant reappears

Thankyou for all your replies, The good news is I caught a brief glimpse of the "White" Pheasant on my walk this afternoon. I'm pleased it has avoided any predators and guns. Next time I meet any gamekeepers in tha area I shall certainly ask if any have been released.