Common pheasant
Phasianus colchicus
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.
At a glance
Key facts in one look
Diet
Seeds, plants, insects
Status in Georgia
Year-round resident
Size
Males 65–89 cm; females 53–70 cm
Habitat
Riparian scrub, floodplain, foothill cover
Family
Phasianidae
Conservation
LC
Human interaction: It is not venomous and is not a threat to people. Do not chase, catch, or keep wild birds without a permit. Spurs on adult males can injure if a bird is mishandled. Follow current hunting rules where hunting is legal; protected areas and closed seasons apply as published by the competent agencies. Leave nests and broods alone.
Overview
What is Common pheasant
The common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) is a large galliform bird in the family Phasianidae. The usual Georgian name is ხოხობი; კოლხური ხოხობი stresses the native Colchic / Caucasian stock. The 2024 annotated checklist of the birds of Georgia codes it YR-R: a breeding resident present throughout the year. Seasonality is classed as high-quality (code A). Occurrence quality is high (H), with photograph, sound recording, and hunter-collected evidence. It is not a threat to people. IUCN lists the species as Least Concern. The 2024 checklist assigns the same category nationally. Males are about 65–89 cm long at species level, females about 53–70 cm, with a long pointed tail. The scientific name means “pheasant of Colchis”; the type locality was later fixed to the Rioni (ancient Phasis) in western Georgia.
Last updated
Gallery
Common pheasant in photos
Photo: Charles J. Sharp
Otmoor RSPB Reserve, Oxfordshire ·
Photo: Charles J. Sharp
near Compton, Hampshire ·
Photo: Charles J. Sharp
Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall ·
Photo: Romzig
Identification
How to identify Common pheasant
A large long-tailed gamebird. Males are multicoloured with a green head, red facial skin and a long barred tail; females are cryptic brown. The Caucasus nominate form typically lacks a white neck-ring; many European photos (including some on this page) show white-collared introduced stock.
- 01
Length at species level: males about 65–89 cm with a long pointed tail (often over 35 cm), females about 53–70 cm with a shorter tail (about 20–40 cm). Mass in Georgian encyclopedic sources is given around 1.6 kg for males and 0.8 kg for females; a separate measured series from Georgia is not given on this page. Male: iridescent dark green to blue-black head, bright red facial wattles, ear-tufts, coppery scaled breast and flanks, long barred brown tail. Female: mottled buff-brown, shorter tail, no red face. Both sexes have strong legs and short rounded wings; they run well and rise with a noisy burst.
- 02
Nominate P. c. colchicus (black-necked / Colchic group) males lack an external white neck-ring. Many introduced or hybrid “ring-necked” populations show a clear white collar. Gallery photos on this page are European birds and may show a collar; do not treat a white ring as proof of Georgian nominate stock, and do not treat its absence alone as a full subspecies ID without other characters and locality context. Juveniles are browner and shorter-tailed than adult males.
- 03
Chukar (Alectoris chukar; გავაზი) is a stockier rock partridge with bold flank bars and a different face pattern; YR-R on the 2024 checklist. Grey partridge (Perdix perdix) is much smaller and shorter-tailed; YR-R. Black francolin (Francolinus francolinus) is darker, shorter-tailed, and coded YR-R with national NT on the checklist. Caucasian grouse (Lyrurus mlokosiewiczi) is a highland forest grouse, not a lowland pheasant. This atlas does not yet have separate pages for those lookalikes.
- 04
It is harmless to people. A large long-tailed gamebird flushed from floodplain scrub or foothill cover in Georgia is usually this species; check size, tail length, and (in males) the green head and red face.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
Look for it in dense lowland cover: riparian forest, thick undergrowth along river valleys, scrub, dry grassland with bushes, and open dry foothill forest. It runs more than it flies; short strong flights end in cover. The 2024 checklist confirms country-level resident status but does not publish a municipality map. Do not assume it occurs evenly across Georgia, including high alpine zones. Named modern monitoring: Javakhishvili and Melikishvili (2022) surveyed Vashlovani Protected Areas (Kakheti) in April 2021 with crowing counts on Alazani riparian forest (about 150–250 m) and on Shavi Mta semi-arid light forest and scrub (about 300–800 m), treating the species as present up to about 1,000 m in that study area. Georgian encyclopedic sources historically place it on the Colchis lowland and in the Mtkvari, Iori and Alazani floodplains, often to about 850 m. Subspecies literature on the nominate black-necked form describes remnant western populations around the Lake Paliastomi and Rioni basins; extinction is reported for the Chorokh valley of southern Georgia and the Kodori valley in Abkhazia — those statements are from secondary range summaries, not a new Georgian atlas census. Captive breeding and releases (for example Khobi / Nojikhevi in Samegrelo, and releases at Krtsanisi Forest Park near Tbilisi) are conservation and restocking actions; they are not a full wild distribution map. This page colours Kakheti from the Vashlovani survey and Samegrelo from the named western Colchic / Rioni–Paliastomi literature and breeding-programme locality. Other regions may hold birds; they are not coloured here without compiled named evidence.
Diet
There is no separate weighed Georgian diet study on this page. At species level it takes plant material (seeds, berries, green shoots) and invertebrates, especially insects important for chicks. Georgian encyclopedic sources likewise emphasise weed seeds, fruit, vegetative parts and insects. It is a traditional gamebird in Georgia; hunting is regulated separately from Red List categories. Lynx diet accounts for the Vashlovani semi-arid zone name pheasant among main prey with hare and chukar.
Behavior
It is active by day. Males are territorial in the breeding season and gather several females; the male’s loud two-note crow, often with wing-whirring, is used for monitoring in Georgia. Nests are on the ground in thick cover. Species-level clutches are often about 8–15 eggs, incubation about 23–28 days, and broods stay with the female for about 70–80 days — those figures are from the Vashlovani monitoring report’s species summary and wider handbooks, not a nationwide Georgian nest sample on this page. The 2024 checklist treats the species as a resident breeder. It is not a long-distance migrant like many passerines. Do not chase or handle wild birds.
Conservation
BirdLife International assesses Phasianus colchicus as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, with a very large global range that includes both native and widely introduced populations. The 2024 Georgian bird checklist assigns global and national category LC. Evidence codes include hunter samples (CH), so regulated hunting is part of the documented Georgian picture. The National Wildlife Agency presents the Colchic pheasant in Red List materials with national status LC and runs captive breeding and release programmes for native stock; MEPA and agency press notes describe restocking into protected areas and sites such as Krtsanisi. Whether the species appears as a listed entry on Government Resolution No. 190 (2014) should be checked against the official list text; this page follows the 2024 checklist’s national LC coding and agency LC wording rather than assuming a higher threat category. Local pressures named in the Vashlovani 2021 work include sheep-herding disturbance and dogs, illegal hunting near protected-area edges, and agricultural burning. Hybridisation with introduced farm or ring-necked stock is a documented concern for genetically distinctive black-necked (nominate) populations across the western native range; purity of every Georgian subpopulation is not proven on this page. A separate national population trend series is not given here.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Common pheasant.
Yes. The 2024 annotated checklist of the birds of Georgia lists it as a confirmed year-round resident (YR-R).
In dense lowland and foothill cover — riparian forest, scrub and semi-open dry forest. Named modern survey work covers Vashlovani Protected Areas in Kakheti. Western Colchic literature names the Paliastomi and Rioni basins. This page does not map every region.
Large long-tailed gamebird. Male: green head, red face, coppery scaled body, long barred tail. Female: mottled brown, shorter tail. Caucasus nominate males typically lack a white neck-ring; many European photos show a white collar.
Males about 65–89 cm and females about 53–70 cm at species level, including the long tail. A separate measured series from Georgia is not given on this page.
Seeds, other plant material, and insects. Diet has not been studied separately in Georgia on this page.
All year as a resident breeder, according to the 2024 checklist. Male crowing counts in Vashlovani were run in mid-April.
Yes. YR-R on the 2024 checklist means resident breeder. Nests are on the ground in thick cover.
It is harmless to people. Globally and on the 2024 national checklist it is Least Concern (LC). It is a traditional game species; follow current hunting and protected-area rules. Do not disturb nests.
- Budagashvili & Javakhishvili 2024 — The birds of Georgia (Sandgrouse 46)
- Javakhishvili & Melikishvili 2022 — Monitoring of Common Pheasant in Vashlovani Protected Areas (UNDP/CNF)
- ჯავახიშვილი და მელიქიშვილი 2022 — კოლხური ხოხბის მონიტორინგი ვაშლოვანში (ქართული)
- BirdLife DataZone — Common Pheasant
- IUCN Red List — Phasianus colchicus
- IOC World Bird List
- Avibase — Georgia bird checklist
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
- MEPA — Kolkhian pheasant farm opens in Khobi (2020)
- Agency of Wildlife — Colchic pheasant release at Krtsanisi
- ქართული საბჭოთა ენციკლოპედია — კოლხური ხოხობი (კუტუბიძე 1980)
- Birds of the World — Common Pheasant
- NACRES / lynx prey context — Vashlovani (via reptiles.ge lynx page sources)
- Wikimedia Commons — male, Otmoor (Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — female, Compton (Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — male, Heligan (Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — male (Romzig, CC0)
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
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