Pheasants & Partridges
Pheasants and Partridges
are call 'Game Birds'
because they are shot for sport. There is quite a lot
of shooting of rabbits round here, but no organised
bird shoots that we know of.
Never the less they get disturbed and
seem to like the peace of our rough grass areas.
This male pheasant is typical of the glorious exotic colours the males carry year round. They are predominately vegetarian though they will take an insect if it is convenient.
This Pheasant hen
(female) is a little lighter
than what we typically see but the patterning is
similar. Note how confusing the pattern on her
back is - when she is sitting on a nest it
renders her almost invisible in long grass.
Having nearly trodden on one while crossing a
grass area we can attest to its good
camouflage effect.
The
males feathers show fantastic iridescence when the
lighting is right.
This is not the 'colour' of the feathers but the effect of the fine structure of the feathers producing 'interference' effects with the wavelength of light. You can see the same effect on a CD or DVD surface when you get the angle right.
We occasionally
see partridges when they are
frightened out of the adjacent fields by grass
cutting. We used to see mainly Red-legged
Partridge but now see only Grey Partridge. They
are very nervous and difficult to photograph, and
we have never picked up a picture in the
automatic camera. This image shows a young
family rooting about in a mulched area of the
back garden.