Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus Linnaeus       Field Guide IDs: NG-132; G-92; PE-144; PW-pl 22; AE-pl 274; AW-pl 267; AM(I)-272 Nest Location Nest Type Eggs & Mating System Dev. & Parental Care Primary & 2ndary Diet.. Foraging Strategy F I: 23-25 DAYS PRECOCIAL 3 F 10-12 (6-15+) POLYGYN F: 12 DAYS F BREEDING: Open country, cultivated areas, marsh, woodland, forest edge. 1 brood. DISPLAYS: Courtship: male on "crowing territory" rises high on feet and calls loudly while rapidly but briefly flapping wings; struts in semicircles around female, head tucked, tail spread, and wing toward female drooped. NEST: Usu concealed in grass, weeds; shallow depression, occ barely lined with leaves, grass. EGGS: Brownish-olive, occ pale blue, unmarked. 1.6" (42 mm). DIET: Insects, terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates, small vertebrates; seeds, grain, fruit. CONSERVATION: Winter resident. Asian species widely introduced. Occ damages grain crops. NOTES: Females form group that associates with, and is defended by, one male. Strong breeding territory tenacity by male. Hens are occ brood parasites, laying eggs in nests of ducks or other gallinaceous birds. Female performs distraction display. Male rarely accompanies hen and chicks. Young independent at 10-12 weeks. Roost in trees or on ground, occ loosely communal. Fall and winter flocks often up to 30-40 birds, usu sexes separate; strong dominance hierarchy in flock. STANFORD. NOTES: More common in foothill and bayside areas; a few of these exotic birds may be resident on campus. ESSAYS: Population Dynamics; Eye Color; Dominance Hierarchies; Brood Parasitism; Distraction Displays; Polygyny; Site Tenacity. REFERENCES: Cramp and Simmons, 1980; Leopold et al., 1981; Snyder, 1984; Whiteside and Guthery, 1983.