KJenMA7
Chirping
- Feb 1, 2015
- 38
- 0
- 55
Hello,
I'm hoping someone here would be so kind as to give me some advice. I live in Massachusetts, and, two days ago, I found a large white and black bird with a red face and an incredibly long tail sitting in my yard, eating bird seed from the ground that we had put down for the birds. I had no idea what this bird was, so I went through all the bird books that I own. I knew it had to be a game bird of some sort, but since I've never seen a pheasant before, I didn't immediately know that the bird was a pheasant. Fortunately, the long tail helped me to quickly identify the bird. However, the only pheasant my books referenced was the Ring-Necked Pheasant. After much research online, I discovered that what I was seeing was a male Silver Pheasant.
I could not find any information that indicated the Silver Pheasant is found in the wild in Massachusetts. Is this a correct assumption? If so, are we to assume this pheasant has to be someone's pet? My husband called our local police department to see if anyone had reported a lost Silver Pheasant. He was told to call our local Animal Control Officer, which he did. The Animal Control Officer told him that no one had reported a missing pheasant, and since it is considered a wild animal, she is not allowed to capture the animal unless it is injured (it is not). My husband also went around our neighborhood to try to find out if this pheasant belongs to anyone. We have been unsuccessful in finding anyone who keeps pheasants in our neighborhood, and none of our neighbors are aware of anyone this bird may belong to.
I've lived in the same home for 21 years now, and we feed the birds year-round. We have never so much as seen a Ring-Necked Pheasant in our area, so I have no idea where this guy came from. We were just hit by a blizzard earlier in the week, and we have more heavy snow coming tonight and tomorrow. Temps have been bitterly cold with high winds, and I'm pretty concerned about this beautiful guy, as the temps are going to drop even lower over the next few days. We have a row of evergreens at the edge of our property. He is hiding under them during the day, and coming out regularly to eat the cracked corn, sunflower seed, and safflower seed that we have on the ground for the local critters. I do not believe, however, that he is staying under the evergreens during the night. Is there anything more we can/should be doing for him, assuming he really isn't a "wild" pheasant? Should we be offering him different food than what we put out for the local songbirds/woodpeckers? Is there an organization that we could call to pick him up (assuming, again, that he isn't a wild pheasant)? Any advice would be much appreciated!
Thank you!
I'm hoping someone here would be so kind as to give me some advice. I live in Massachusetts, and, two days ago, I found a large white and black bird with a red face and an incredibly long tail sitting in my yard, eating bird seed from the ground that we had put down for the birds. I had no idea what this bird was, so I went through all the bird books that I own. I knew it had to be a game bird of some sort, but since I've never seen a pheasant before, I didn't immediately know that the bird was a pheasant. Fortunately, the long tail helped me to quickly identify the bird. However, the only pheasant my books referenced was the Ring-Necked Pheasant. After much research online, I discovered that what I was seeing was a male Silver Pheasant.
I could not find any information that indicated the Silver Pheasant is found in the wild in Massachusetts. Is this a correct assumption? If so, are we to assume this pheasant has to be someone's pet? My husband called our local police department to see if anyone had reported a lost Silver Pheasant. He was told to call our local Animal Control Officer, which he did. The Animal Control Officer told him that no one had reported a missing pheasant, and since it is considered a wild animal, she is not allowed to capture the animal unless it is injured (it is not). My husband also went around our neighborhood to try to find out if this pheasant belongs to anyone. We have been unsuccessful in finding anyone who keeps pheasants in our neighborhood, and none of our neighbors are aware of anyone this bird may belong to.
I've lived in the same home for 21 years now, and we feed the birds year-round. We have never so much as seen a Ring-Necked Pheasant in our area, so I have no idea where this guy came from. We were just hit by a blizzard earlier in the week, and we have more heavy snow coming tonight and tomorrow. Temps have been bitterly cold with high winds, and I'm pretty concerned about this beautiful guy, as the temps are going to drop even lower over the next few days. We have a row of evergreens at the edge of our property. He is hiding under them during the day, and coming out regularly to eat the cracked corn, sunflower seed, and safflower seed that we have on the ground for the local critters. I do not believe, however, that he is staying under the evergreens during the night. Is there anything more we can/should be doing for him, assuming he really isn't a "wild" pheasant? Should we be offering him different food than what we put out for the local songbirds/woodpeckers? Is there an organization that we could call to pick him up (assuming, again, that he isn't a wild pheasant)? Any advice would be much appreciated!
Thank you!
