Pheasant, common name for about 50 species of birds, including such well-known birds as the peafowl (see Peacock) and jungle fowl. All pheasants except the Congo peafowl of Africa are native to Asia, but several species have been introduced elsewhere.

The best-known species is the common pheasant, often called the ring-necked pheasant because of the white ring on the neck of males of several of the 34 subspecies. The pheasant originally introduced into Europe, probably by the Romans, was a ringless race from the east side of the Black Sea. A ring-necked Chinese race was introduced into North America in the late 18th century, and later introductions of this race in Europe have created a mixed population with neck and other plumage colors varying between the two original kinds. A Mongolian race as well as the “black-necked” race from Europe have also been introduced in North America, but their racial characteristics tend to be genetically obscured by the more abundent Chinese ringnecks. In addition to the latter, an iridescent green subspecies from Japan has been successfully introduced in the Hawaiian Islands.

In all of the subspecies of the common pheasant, the male has a naked red face and wattles, two short “horns” of feathers at the back of the crown, and a very long, barred tail. Body color is highly variable; for example, the rump of the Chinese ringneck is pale whitish green, that of the Mongolian race maroon. Males are about 90 cm (about 35 in) long. Females, which are buffy below, mottled with brown and black above, are about 63 cm (about 25 in) long. In North America and Europe many common pheasants are reared on game farms and released for hunting. They do best in open country and are especially abundant in the grainfields of the prairie states and provinces, although they are also found in the eastern states south to North Carolina. A white-winged subspecies from a more arid region of Asia has been successfully introduced into the southwestern United States.

The males of many other pheasant species have bright, ornamental plumage and are readily bred in captivity; some of these have been liberated, but none has succeeded as well as the common pheasant. For example, there are populations of the well-named golden pheasant, of central and southern China, in Great Britain, and of the kalij pheasant of the Himalayas, on the island of Hawaii.

As many as 15 or more species of pheasant are considered endangered or threatened, with both overhunting and habitat destruction as the principal causes. Strict protection has helped to maintain populations of vulnerable species such as two species endemic to the mountains of Taiwan, Swinhoe's pheasant and the Mikado pheasant. Several species, such as the brilliantly colored tragopans, live in such remote areas of Asia that reliable information as to their status is difficult to obtain. Fortunately, virtually all pheasants breed so well in captivity that total extinction of most species is unlikely.

Scientific classification: Pheasants belong to the family Phasianidae, order Galliformes. The common pheasant is classified as Phasianus colchicus, the golden pheasant as Chrysolophus pictus, and the kalij pheasant as Lophura leucomelana. Swinhoe's pheasant is classified as Lophura swinhoii, and the Mikado pheasant as Syrmaticus mikado. The tragopans make up the genus Tragopan.