Driving home from an afternoon spent dining on the Riverwalk and other assorted San Antonio fun stuff, my family and I were stopped short by a gorgeous bird walking beside the road not half a mile from our house. I knew instantly it was a pheasant, but not a species I'd ever encountered before. Which is to say it wasn't a golden or ring-necked. Its face was dark, but the neck down to the "shoulders" was covered in striking white feathers edged with black. After that, the feathers turned metallic green, and the tail was the classic long, barred pheasant type. We stopped and backed up, and while it watched us warily, it didn't panic. It simply picked its way along. Unfortunately, we didn't have a camera in the car with us. Once we got home, I grabbed the 35mm and headed back with Calista to try and get some shots, but the bird had disappeared into the woods.
Fortunately, a little googling turned up the information I sought. The species was a Lady Amherst Pheasant. The following image was taken by Myles Lamont of
Mapledale Farm:
They're natives of southwest China and northern Burma. They're popular among captive breeders, but unliked the ring-necked pheasant, they supposedly haven't established breeding populations in the U.S. I have to assume this one was an escapee. It certainly seemed unconcerned by our presence. To have all your pheasant questions answered, I recommend you check out
gwbf.org. There are some gorgeous birds there, and tremendous amounts of useful information.
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