Ring-necked Pheasant
Learn to identify the Ring-necked Pheasant by ear. Master the "koor-KAA! kaawk" phrase and tell it apart from similar species.
What the Ring-necked Pheasant sounds like
A male gives a loud, two-part crow, then beats his wings in a rapid whir. The crow is vocal; the short rush that follows comes from the wings during his display.
How to tell it apart
Lessons featuring the Ring-necked Pheasant
Ready to test your ear? Practice identifying the Ring-necked Pheasant's sounds in this interactive in-app lesson.
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Where you'll hear it
Year-round resident throughout most of its introduced range; generally sedentary, moving short distances between feeding and roosting sites.
Mixed farmland, grasslands, weedy field margins, hedgerows, and marsh edges; prefers mosaic of tall cover for roosting and open ground for feeding.
Breeding begins in early spring when males establish territories and engage in conspicuous crowing and wing-whirring displays. Chicks hatch late spring to early summer and form broods that remain together into fall.
How to recognize it by sight
The Ring-necked Pheasant is a large, ground-dwelling gamebird famed for the male’s showy plumage and loud crowing call. Native to Asia, it has been widely introduced across North America and Europe, where it now thrives in agricultural landscapes and grasslands.
Similar species
Greater Prairie-Chicken
Prairie-Chicken lacks long tail and white neck ring.
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Slightly smaller with wedge-shaped tail tipped in white, not long and barred.
Wild Turkey
Much larger (up to 24 lbs) with bald blue-red head and fan-shaped tail when displaying.