The Ring-necked Pheasant is a species I’ve always enjoyed (something I can’t say about many other introduced species). The colors of the males are spectacular and their mating antics in springtime are a lot of fun to watch and to attempt to photograph. Fighting males really go at each other.
1/640, f/9, ISO 400, 500 5/4, 1.4 tc, natural light
One of the biggest problems with photographing them is composition – that ridiculously long tail is just so difficult to fit into the frame and still get a composition that works well if you’re close enough to get nice detail. The other issue is catching them in the clear – these birds prefer habitat that usually has lots of obstructing vegetation in front of the bird. But when you find one of them in the open and have nice light on the bird, their colors certainly catch the eye.
1/400, f/8, ISO 400, 500 5/4, 1.4 tc, natural light
Males like to crow at the sun as it rises, which is exactly what this bird was doing. He’s sidelit and facing slightly away from me but this angle gave me light in the eye and I like the strutting pose.
1/800, f/8, ISO 500, 500 5/4, 1.4 tc, natural light
Occasionally, especially on cold mornings, these pheasants will perch in trees in order to make best use of the warming rays of the sun. This is one of the few times I’ve photographed this species in a tree where there weren’t a lot of obstructing branches and twigs.
Ron
Beautiful shots, Ron. I haven’t seen one of those since I grew up in Michigan. I have the same problem with composition when I photograph the Greater Roadrunners we have down here.
Some birds are a pain that way, aren’t they Bob. Add Black-billed Magpies to the list…
That second photo made me think of a punk rooster on steroids. Wonderful photos all three. Thank you.
Not sure about the steroids Elephant’s Child, but rest assurred that this bird had plenty of hormones coarsing through his veins when I got this shot.
When I was in high school, we lived in England for a year and I had to take a bus to school at the American Air Force base at Molesworth. The bus ride was an hour long and it required us to board before sunrise. I would sit in the back and stare out the window and often I was rewarded with a good view of one of these cock pheasants sitting in the moist morning sunlight in a field or on the side of the road. They were one of the reasons I became a birder. Thanks for bringing up that fond memory.
And thanks for sharing a little of your history with birds Tana. Little things sometimes end up making a big difference in our lives, huh?
stunning photos!!
Thanks Nicole.
Wow. These are gorgeous. My only images of pheasants are really images of grass with a neck and head looking back at me. The second one is exquisite and the for a moment, I thought the one in a tree was an illustration. Thanks so much for sharing these with us.
Sharon, Believe me, I’ve taken more than my share of “mostly grass” pheasant images.