A Couple Wild N. IL Roosters

[1pheas4]

I was looking through some old hunting videos on my computer and decided to post this quick video on utube. Filming is a bit poor but there's some good parts too.

These two are wild roosters in the back yard eating bird food fallen from feeders back in 2008 in McHenry County Illinois.

Don't mind the back and forth babbl between my dad and I. We tend to analize every aspect of pheasants. And no, the one bird most likely does not have "buff" in his genes line as my dad sujested

Hope you enjoy:cheers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YChsr43qMA

 

[quail hound]

Cool video, I wish I could see that in my backyard.

 

[UplandHntr]

I just happen to live in McHenry Co :cheers:

 

[Preston1]

1pheas4, great video.

Notice how truly wild pheasants are on constant alert even when eating.

Note the yellow iris of the truly wild pheasants, that trait or attribute is selected as a beneficial survival trait after 50 or 60 generations of staying alive in the real wild, wild mean and nasty wild world full of predators.

Night time and 24-7 predators like cat, howls and coyotes also have yellow iris to enhance their night vision.
Only the wildest and most alert hens and roosters live long enough to past those wild trait along to the next generation.

On the other hand, after 40 or 50 generations in the pen where wildness and alertness in not selected out, most pen-raised roosters have dark eyes.

Google: Bosque Del Apache pheasants, (New Mexico) notice all of the wild pheasants along hundreds of miles of the Rio Grande river valley, have yellow iris. That area is infested with predators. Fifty years ago White-Winged or Bianchi Pheasants were released in that area and crossed with Gray-rump or Ring-Necked pheasant to product a wild and alert pheasant in that area.

The states that raise pen raised pheasants for youth hunts should wild-trap 500 wild pheasants to use as breeders, instead of the tame pen-raised birds or obtain wild stock (never been in a pen) directly from China.

Illinois had a chance to obtain some wild Strauchi (Sichuan) pheasants that could have helped expand the wild pheasant range southward, but state official turn it down, see article below:
http://www.invasive.org/symposium/harty.html

 

[1pheas4]

Thanks again for your insight Prston1! You really bring a lot of interesting facts to the table. :10sign:

I have a quick question for you. You mentioned the White-wing crossing with the "gray-rump" ring neck. Which breed is this? I was under the impression that the white-Wing was the only line able to survive in New Mexico. This cross breed would explain why I'm seeing hints of a white ring around the necks of some "White-wings".
Also, in regards to the state trapping wild stock I've asked many club owners why they don't raise more White-wings and Manchurian pheasants to make shooting more challenging. As you know both breeds fly very strong and fast (particularly the white-wing). I get the same answer every time. "Guys like the slower birds". I suppose the easier shots are appealing to most guys hunting the clubs especially kids. This may explain why the state didn't move on the chance with the Sichuan Just a theory.

I would agree with you, wild stock should and needs to be integrated with our pen stock.

Here's another Vid just for fun of what I believe is a wild rooster in SD. "mile long tail"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=570jfYRA0CE :cheers:

 

[Preston1]

pheas4, order an old book by Jean Delacour "The Pheasants of the World" Amazon.com has it. That book explains everything about the True Pheasants (Ring-Necked type).

The Grey-Rumped pheasants are all of True Pheasants found in the eastern half of Asia. That includes 17 ring-necked sub-species which also includes the Sichuan and what we call here the Chinese Ring-necked pheasant or what is sometimes called the blue-back pheasant. They are all the same family, the hens of all of these sub-species look alike.

The ringneck pheasant were introduced in 1916 to New Mexico, slowly became established along river and in irrigated areas.
The White-Winged or Bianchi Pheasants were not released until the early or mid 1960's. The white-winged pheasant just added alertness and agility to the already present ringneck gene pool. And help the wild pheasants expand their range along the Rio Grande river valley.
Most of the roosters in that area will have a partial ring.
But in the middle Rio Grande the White-winged looking rooster is the predominant phynotype.
The reason for this is not that this bird is more dominant that regular looking ring-necked pheasants, after 50 years it boils down to who is alive and healthy when spring time comes to mate with hens.

The white-winged looking roosters appear to survive the tons of predators and pass those genes on to the next generation.

No true pheasant in America will stay one pure sub-specie, even the Sichuan will cross with the regular ringnecks to produce a wilder more wary partial ring roosters the hens will remain the same look, but wilder.