A Very Brief History
In a land rich in symbolism and imagery, the Chinese pheasant represented light, virtue, prosperity and good fortune. Good fortune indeed came upon one hunter in Burma who noticed a precious stone in the gizzard of his recent kill. The discovery inspired him to search for the origin of this stone, and after visiting the rooster’s old stomping ground, sure enough, he found an emerald mine!
The pheasant was also associated with the a 2000 B.C. emperor named Yu who was famed for developing a complex system of flood control. Similarly, references made to our endeared bird always place it next to important rivers (like its namesake, the Phasis). Perhaps a coincidence that the pheasant was associated with water, more likely it merely provided good habitat.
Thousands of years later in Europe, the pheasant was prized for its exotic beauty and tasty meat. The right-to-hunt pheasants was reserved for the upper class. Numerous attempts to bring pheasants to the “land of the free” failed. Ben Franklin’s son-in-law, Richard Bach, released some pheasants in New Jersey. George Washington had some sent to his Mount Vernon estate during his first year of presidency, and the Governors of New Hampshire, and New York also attempted to introduce the “old English blackneck” pheasant. Most of these pheasants were raised on game farms and were not hardy enough to survive. Therefore, these introductions proved unsuccessful.
It wasn’t until 1881 that the pheasant was introduced in Oregon by Judge, Owen Nickerson Denny, American consul in Shanghai, that pheasants were able to gain a stronghold. It was his persistence that lead to the final success of a pheasant population in America.
A Bird With a Past
If you had the time, patience and scientific know-how, you could in theory, go far enough back in time to trace anyone or anything’s ancestry to the beginning of history. Scientists are trying to go further yet by tracing organisms to the primordial sludge of which all life on earth evolved. The pheasant is a bird with a long and harried (or feathered) past. Paleontologist believe that a five foot tall, flightless pheasant weighing a whopping 300 pounds, roamed France and Greece 25 million years ago. This pheasant died off in its monstrous form, and reappeared 3000 years ago in Asia and Asia Minor. Here lived the smaller, avian birds more familiar to us. These were the parental birds that would give life to other long tailed species like domestic chicken, peacock, and today’s 30 different pheasant varieties including the revered ringneck. Below is a timeline of the events that brought pheasants to be one of America’s favorite upland game bird.
Birds of a Feather
When ancient Romans put feathers on their helmets, they called it panache, when Yankee Doodle put a feather in his hat he called it macaroni. When an animal wears feathers on its body, we called it a bird.
Feathers on birds have more than ornamental value. There are three basic kinds of feathers, each serving different needs. Down feathers are the small fluffy feathers that keep a bird warm. They can be found close to the body to trap warm air and keep the heat in.
Contour feathers give shape to the bird. They are not as soft as down, but much more flexible than a stiff wing or tail feather. Oftentimes, they are curved to fit the rounded shape of a bird’s body. Typically, males bear bright colors to attract a mate, and hens wear dull colors to help them remain camouflaged during nesting.
Primary and secondary feathers are long stiff feathers on a bird’s wings and tail. These must be sturdy enough to support weight and withstand air pressure during flight.
