A large ground-living gamebird of floodplain scrub, riparian forest and semi-open foothills. Confirmed in Georgia as a year-round resident on the 2024 national bird checklist. The species name refers to Colchis in western Georgia.
The pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) is a large chicken-like bird in the pheasant family (Phasianidae). Its usual Georgian name is khokhobi. The name “Colchian pheasant” draws attention to its local Colchian/Caucasian origins. Georgia’s 2024 bird list gives it the code YR-R: it breeds in Georgia and lives there year-round. The information on when it is found during the year is of high quality (code A). Its presence in Georgia is also well documented (code H), with a photo, a sound recording and a bird obtained through hunting. It poses no direct threat to people. The IUCN rates the species as facing little threat. The 2024 list also assigns it the LC category for Georgia. Across the species as a whole, males are about 65–89 cm long and females about 53–70 cm long. They have long, pointed tails. Its scientific name means “pheasant of Colchis.” A site on the Rioni River (ancient Phasis) in western Georgia was later named as the place where the bird used to describe the species had been obtained.
Identification
How to identify Common pheasant
A large, long-tailed game bird. The male is colorful, with a green head, red skin on its face and a long, striped tail. The female is brown, which helps her blend in. The Caucasian form usually has no white ring around its neck. Some European photos on this page show birds introduced from elsewhere that have a white ring around their necks.
Males of this species are about 65–89 cm long. Their long, pointed tails are often more than 35 cm long. Females are about 53–70 cm long, with shorter tails measuring about 20–40 cm. According to Georgian encyclopedias, males weigh about 1.6 kg and females about 0.8 kg. This page does not provide separate measurements for birds measured in Georgia. Males have glossy dark green or bluish-black heads, bright red skin on their faces, and tufts of feathers near their ears. The copper-colored feathers on their breasts and sides look like scales. Their long brown tails have stripes. Females are mottled brown, have shorter tails, and lack red skin on their faces. Both have strong legs and short, rounded wings. They run well and take off noisily.
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Male P. c. colchicus (the black-throated, or Colchian, group) have no white ring around the throat. Many “white-throated” groups introduced to new areas or formed through crossbreeding have a white collar. The gallery on this page shows European birds, some of which may have a visible collar. A white ring is not evidence that a bird belongs to the Georgian P. c. colchicus group. The absence of a ring alone is also not enough to identify its subspecies: where the bird was seen and its other features must be considered. Young birds are browner and have shorter tails than adult males.
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The chukar (Alectoris chukar) is a stockier rock partridge, with bold stripes on its sides and a different feather pattern. The grey partridge (Perdix perdix) is much smaller and has a short tail. The black francolin (Francolinus francolinus) is darker and also has a short tail. All three are marked YR-R in the 2024 list; the black francolin is in the NT category nationally. The Caucasian grouse (Lyrurus mlokosiewiczi) is a grouse that lives in high mountain forests, not a lowland pheasant. The atlas does not yet have separate pages for these similar species.
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It is harmless to humans. In Georgia, a large, long-tailed bird that people hunt, flying up from floodplain shrubs or vegetation in the foothills, is usually this species. Look at its size and tail length. Males have green heads and red faces.
In the lowlands, look for it among dense vegetation: in floodplain forests, among shrubs and other low plants in river valley forests, in scrub, and in dry meadows with shrubs. You may also find it in open, dry foothill forests. It runs more often than it flies; after a short, forceful flight, it lands among plants again. A 2024 list identifies it as a year-round resident of Georgia but does not say which municipalities it occurs in. This does not mean it is equally common across the country, including the alpine zone high in the mountains. In April 2021, males’ calls were recorded in Vashlovani Protected Areas (Kakheti), in the Alazani floodplain forest (at about 150–250 m) and in semi-dry open forest and scrub on Black Mountain (at about 300–800 m). The same study also mentions elevations of up to about 1,000 m for its study area. Georgian encyclopedic sources describe its historical range in the Colchis Lowland and the floodplains of the Mtkvari, Iori and Alazani rivers; they often give an upper elevation of about 850 m. Published sources on the black-necked form describe surviving groups in western Georgia around Lake Paliastomi and the Rioni basins. Reports that it has disappeared from the Chorokhi Valley in southern Georgia and the Kodori Valley in Abkhazia come from range summaries based on other sources, not from new records in a Georgian atlas. Breeding in captivity and releasing birds, for example at the Khobi / Nojikhevi farm in Samegrelo and Krtsanisi Forest Park near Tbilisi, are efforts to conserve and restore the species. These reports do not provide a complete map of its range in the wild. The map on this page uses public iNaturalist observations that are not marked as involving captive animals. A region is shaded only when the records table lists the species’ occurrence there as confirmed. The Vashlovani study and published sources on western Georgia describe specific places, but they do not automatically change a region’s status in the table. Reports of breeding and releases do not, on their own, determine its range status.Read moreShow less
In the lowlands, look for it among dense vegetation: in floodplain forests, among shrubs and other low plants in river valley forests, in scrub, and in dry meadows with shrubs. You may also find it in open, dry foothill forests. It runs more often than it flies; after a short, forceful flight, it lands among plants again. A 2024 list identifies it as a year-round resident of Georgia but does not say which municipalities it occurs in. This does not mean it is equally common across the country, including the alpine zone high in the mountains. In April 2021, males’ calls were recorded in Vashlovani Protected Areas (Kakheti), in the Alazani floodplain forest (at about 150–250 m) and in semi-dry open forest and scrub on Black Mountain (at about 300–800 m). The same study also mentions elevations of up to about 1,000 m for its study area. Georgian encyclopedic sources describe its historical range in the Colchis Lowland and the floodplains of the Mtkvari, Iori and Alazani rivers; they often give an upper elevation of about 850 m. Published sources on the black-necked form describe surviving groups in western Georgia around Lake Paliastomi and the Rioni basins. Reports that it has disappeared from the Chorokhi Valley in southern Georgia and the Kodori Valley in Abkhazia come from range summaries based on other sources, not from new records in a Georgian atlas. Breeding in captivity and releasing birds, for example at the Khobi / Nojikhevi farm in Samegrelo and Krtsanisi Forest Park near Tbilisi, are efforts to conserve and restore the species. These reports do not provide a complete map of its range in the wild. The map on this page uses public iNaturalist observations that are not marked as involving captive animals. A region is shaded only when the records table lists the species’ occurrence there as confirmed. The Vashlovani study and published sources on western Georgia describe specific places, but they do not automatically change a region’s status in the table. Reports of breeding and releases do not, on their own, determine its range status.
The common pheasant map uses public iNaturalist observations from Georgia that are not marked captive. Regions come from the records-by-region table; only confirmed status counts as distribution. Record counts reflect observation effort, not population density.
This page does not include a separate study from Georgia in which the food eaten by pheasants was weighed. In general, pheasants eat seeds, berries, green shoots and animals without backbones, especially insects. Insects are important for chicks. Georgian encyclopedias also list weed seeds, fruit, other plant parts and insects as food for pheasants. The pheasant is traditionally hunted in Georgia. Hunting rules are set separately from Red List categories. Accounts of what lynx eat in the semi-desert of Vashlovani list pheasants, hares and gavaz among their main prey.
It is active during the day. During the breeding season, males defend their territories and gather several females. The male has a loud, two-note call that is often accompanied by the rustle of its wings. This call is used to monitor the bird in Georgia. It nests on the ground among dense plants. In general, nests of this species often contain about 8–15 eggs. Incubation lasts about 23–28 days, and the chicks stay with the female for about 70–80 days. These figures come from information about the species in the Vashlovani report and general reference works. They are not data from nests studied across Georgia for this page. According to a 2024 checklist, the bird breeds in Georgia and remains there year-round. Like many sparrow-like birds, it does not migrate long distances. Do not chase or catch wild birds.
According to BirdLife International, Phasianus colchicus is listed as LC on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a low risk of extinction worldwide. Its range is very large: it lives both where it occurs naturally and in many places where people have introduced it. Georgia’s 2024 list gives it an LC rating both globally and nationally. Georgian records include a specimen obtained through hunting; hunting the species under regulated conditions is also documented in Georgia. The National Wildlife Agency’s Red List materials likewise give the Colchian pheasant a national LC rating. The agency breeds local pheasants in captivity and releases them into the wild. Press releases from MEPA and the agency describe efforts to restore the species in protected areas and places such as Krtsanisi. Whether the species appears on the official list under Government Decree No. 190 of 2014 needs to be checked against the decree itself. This page follows the national LC rating in the 2024 Georgian list and the agency’s materials; it does not imply a higher threat category. A 2021 paper on Vashlovani identifies local threats: disturbance from grazing sheep and dogs, illegal hunting at the edge of the protected area, and burning on agricultural land. Crossbreeding with introduced, farm-bred or white-necked pheasants is a documented threat to local black-necked pheasants in the west. This page does not establish that every local group in Georgia has remained free of such crossbreeding. It provides no separate data series showing how pheasant numbers have changed in Georgia.
Diet
This page does not include a separate study from Georgia in which the food eaten by pheasants was weighed. In general, pheasants eat seeds, berries, green shoots and animals without backbones, especially insects. Insects are important for chicks. Georgian encyclopedias also list weed seeds, fruit, other plant parts and insects as food for pheasants. The pheasant is traditionally hunted in Georgia. Hunting rules are set separately from Red List categories. Accounts of what lynx eat in the semi-desert of Vashlovani list pheasants, hares and gavaz among their main prey.
Behavior
It is active during the day. During the breeding season, males defend their territories and gather several females. The male has a loud, two-note call that is often accompanied by the rustle of its wings. This call is used to monitor the bird in Georgia. It nests on the ground among dense plants. In general, nests of this species often contain about 8–15 eggs. Incubation lasts about 23–28 days, and the chicks stay with the female for about 70–80 days. These figures come from information about the species in the Vashlovani report and general reference works. They are not data from nests studied across Georgia for this page. According to a 2024 checklist, the bird breeds in Georgia and remains there year-round. Like many sparrow-like birds, it does not migrate long distances. Do not chase or catch wild birds.
Conservation
According to BirdLife International, Phasianus colchicus is listed as LC on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a low risk of extinction worldwide. Its range is very large: it lives both where it occurs naturally and in many places where people have introduced it. Georgia’s 2024 list gives it an LC rating both globally and nationally. Georgian records include a specimen obtained through hunting; hunting the species under regulated conditions is also documented in Georgia. The National Wildlife Agency’s Red List materials likewise give the Colchian pheasant a national LC rating. The agency breeds local pheasants in captivity and releases them into the wild. Press releases from MEPA and the agency describe efforts to restore the species in protected areas and places such as Krtsanisi. Whether the species appears on the official list under Government Decree No. 190 of 2014 needs to be checked against the decree itself. This page follows the national LC rating in the 2024 Georgian list and the agency’s materials; it does not imply a higher threat category. A 2021 paper on Vashlovani identifies local threats: disturbance from grazing sheep and dogs, illegal hunting at the edge of the protected area, and burning on agricultural land. Crossbreeding with introduced, farm-bred or white-necked pheasants is a documented threat to local black-necked pheasants in the west. This page does not establish that every local group in Georgia has remained free of such crossbreeding. It provides no separate data series showing how pheasant numbers have changed in Georgia.
Short answers to the most important questions about Common pheasant.
Yes. According to the 2024 checklist of Georgia’s birds, it nests in Georgia and lives there year-round.
It occurs among dense vegetation in lowlands and foothills, including floodplain forests, shrubland, and semi-open dry forests. A contemporary record lists the Vashlovani Protected Areas in Kakheti. Sources on western Colchis mention the Paliastomi and Rioni basins. The map marks only regions where its presence is confirmed in the table as places where it occurs. Other observations are shown separately.
A large, long-tailed bird that is hunted. The male has a green head and a red face. Its body is copper-colored with a scale-like pattern, and its long tail is striped. The female is mottled brown and has a shorter tail. Males of this form found in the Caucasus usually have no white ring around the neck, though such a ring appears in many European photos.
In general, males of this species are about 65–89 cm long, including the long tail, and females are about 53–70 cm long. This page does not provide separate measurements from animals in Georgia.
It eats seeds, other plant foods and insects. This page does not include a separate study of what it eats in Georgia.
According to the 2024 list, this bird nests and stays year-round. Calls from males were recorded in Vashlovani in mid-April.
Yes. According to the 2024 list, this bird nests and lives in the same area year-round. It builds its nest on the ground among dense plants.
It is harmless to people. Both globally and in the 2024 national list, it is considered to face little threat (LC). People have traditionally hunted it. Follow current hunting rules and the rules for protected areas. Do not disturb its nests.
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
