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🪶 Reeves's Pheasant

Pheasants & Partridge · breed reference

THE LONGEST TAIL FEATHERS OF ANY BIRD ON EARTH — a record cock's central tail feathers have measured over eight feet, which is a Guinness entry and the reason the bird is in every collection. AND THE WARNING THAT HAS TO RIDE WITH IT: the Reeves's cock is the most aggressive bird in this catalog — he batters his own hens, can scalp or kill them in a pen too small to escape in, and will come at a keeper in season. This is the GOOSE'S TEMPER AXIS INVERTED: a gander is a seasonal danger to people, a Reeves's is a year-round danger to his own flock. Give him a large planted run with sight breaks, two or three hens rather than one, and the willingness to pull him out. Established feral in parts of France and Britain; Vulnerable at home.