Common Pheasant
Photo: Estormiz · CC0

Partridges, Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies

Common Pheasant

Phasianus colchicus

LCLeast Concern
Family
Partridges, Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies (Phasianidae)
Order
Galliformes

Overview

The common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), ring-necked pheasant, or blue-headed pheasant, is a bird in the pheasant family (Phasianidae). The genus name comes from Latin phasianus 'pheasant'. The species name colchicus is Latin for 'of Colchis' (modern day Georgia), a country on the Black Sea where pheasants became known to Europeans. Although Phasianus was previously thought to be closely related to the genus Gallus, the genus of junglefowl and domesticated chickens, recent studies show that they are in different subfamilies, having diverged over 20 million years ago.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.