COMMON PHEASANT

CHARACTERISTICS: The male reaches a length of between 75 to 90 cm. Its plumage is characterised by green head and neck, red colouring around the eyes, white collar, reddish body with brown hues and mottled with black stripes and a very long tail of the same colour as the body. The female measures approximately 60 cm. Its plumage is in shades of brown with darker mottling. In its natural environment it tends to live in forests with plentiful shrubbery and in cereal fields.
DIET: It basically feeds on vegetable material, seeds, cereal grains and fruit. Although, sometimes, it eats insects, slugs, snails, worms, etc.
REPRODUCTION: It builds its nest on the ground, where it lays between eight and fifteen eggs. The chicks are born after an incubation period of between 23 and 28 days. The chicks are nidifugous and become independent from the age of two and a half months.
CURIOSITIES: It has been introduced into many places (above all in Europe and North America) for hunting purposes, and is currently bred for such purposes.