Ring-necked Pheasant RNEP

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Ring-necked pheasant diverged from junglefowl over 20 million years ago. It is native to Asia and parts of Europe like the northern foothills of the Caucasus and the Balkans. It has been widely introduced elsewhere as a game bird. They eat a wide variety of animal and vegetable type-food, like fruit, seeds, grain, and leaves as well as insects; with small vertebrates like lizards, small mammals and small birds are occasionally taken. Pheasants nest solely on the ground in scrapes, lined with some grass and leaves, frequently under dense cover or a hedge. Studies have shown that the female will only leave the nest for one or two brief periods a day and remain in the nest all night. The female alone incubates the eggs and tends to the precocial nestlings. Nest parasitism, or brood parasitism, is common.

Ring-necked Pheasant RNEP

Ring-necked Pheasant RNEP auricular study

Ring-necked Pheasant RNEP sonus auricular

Ring-necked Pheasant RNEP sonus barb spacing

Ring-necked Pheasant RNEP barb angle

Ring-necked Pheasant RNEP plucked auriculars

Microscopy @ 50x 150x 300x proximal sonus auricular.

Ring-necked Pheasant RNEP

Ring-necked Pheasant RNEP bristle feathers with a filoplume on far right  for  comparison.

Microscopy  of the distal end of eye bristles. Note the development at the tip is not a standard bristle trait. It is more like a hybrid of a filoplume except for its thickness.

Ring-necked Pheasant RNEP

Ring-necked Pheasant RNEP

Ring-necked Pheasant RNEP

Ring-necked Pheasant RNEP

Ring-necked Pheasant RNEP

Ring-necked Pheasant RNEP