“There are 39 species of pheasants, all with stunningly beautiful males, among the best decorated of all birds” When most people think of pheasants, they picture our abundant glorious common pheasant, crowing and whirring their wings in the woods, released in their millions into our countryside and shot by hundreds. But there is much more to pheasants than that.
For a start, there are 39 different species of pheasants worldwide, almost all of them with stunningly beautiful males, among the best decorated of all birds. They belong to the order of galliformes, of which there are 290 species, including the pheasants, partridges, peafowl, quails, junglefowl, turkeys, guineafowl, francolins, grouse, guans, curassows and megapodes (incubator or mound-builder birds). All come within the remit of the World Pheasant Association (WPA). We are…