ML474135401

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

Yellow Golden Pheasant seen in the wild, photo #4.

Observation details

I believe this bird is actually a Yellow Golden Pheasant, but that was not a species selection option even when I manually entered the name to try to add it to the checklist. I had originally included the bird on this checklist as a Golden Pheasant, and then removed it later, based on the old eBird rules for exotic bird sightings and the fact that it wasn't a normal Golden Pheasant. But now, with the recent eBird changes that allow it to be categorized as an Exotic>Escapee, I am hopeful it can remain on the checklist. Bird acted basically in the same manner as a naturalized/wild Ring-necked Pheasant; while foraging in the tree row and along the edge of a mowed-grass field, it tolerated my presence at a distance of more than 30 yards while I remained motionless in my vehicle, but it moved back toward cover as I slowly rolled the vehicle closer, with the bird hesitating briefly before and after it entered the brush-filled tree row, disappearing from view. I did not pursue the bird. Later, I called the Game & Fish department to see if anyone was registered as raising pheasants in the area, and no one was licensed to do so, but NDG&F reps also said there was nothing really preventing someone from ordering a few of these birds and having them delivered to their home/farm/ranch. One local person I contacted (a Parks employee seen mowing a nearby park) said he'd heard people discussing the bird, but no one he'd heard talking knew anything about where it might have come from.

Technical information

Model

COOLPIX P900

ISO

400

Focal length

250 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/125 sec

Dimensions

2000 pixels x 1500 pixels

Original file size

2.21 MB