Help on ID'ing SD rooster

P

perkis

New member
Hello,

2 weekends ago a buddy and I went bird hunting and I ended up shooting this interesting looking rooster.

I have done some searching on the internet but have not come up with a 100% explanation. You can see the very light, almost off white color on the wings and top of the head.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

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Could be a real old bird, too.
 
jsdriggs said:
I suspect just natural color variation. Maybe food, maybe genetics. It happens a lot from what I've seen.
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You are right, the rooster in question is a natural color variation (not a mutation). We have to remember that our wild ringneck pheasants came from many subspecies of the Gray- Rumped pheasants the most common the Chinese Ring-necked pheasant (torquatus).
The hens of all of these subspecies look alike, its the markings of the roosters that make the difference.
Added to the gene pool 100 years ago the Mongolian Ringneck (Kirghiz pheasant) which is actually in the White-Winged pheasant family was released all over the mid-west and west, will also occasionally show up.

The light crown on that pheasant's head is often seen on Manchurian roosters, which is also part of the old gene pool.

Main point, in such a vast gene pool that made up the original pheasant that got starter years ago, the photo shown above is not that uncommon anywhere in the U.S.
 
Preston1 said:
You are right, the rooster in question is a natural color variation (not a mutation). We have to remember that our wild ringneck pheasants came from many subspecies of the Gray- Rumped pheasants the most common the Chinese Ring-necked pheasant (torquatus).
The hens of all of these subspecies look alike, its the markings of the roosters that make the difference.
Added to the gene pool 100 years ago the Mongolian Ringneck (Kirghiz pheasant) which is actually in the White-Winged pheasant family was released all over the mid-west and west, will also occasionally show up.

The light crown on that pheasant's head is often seen on Manchurian roosters, which is also part of the old gene pool.

Main point, in such a vast gene pool that made up the original pheasant that got starter years ago, the photo shown above is not that uncommon anywhere in the U.S.
Click to expand...

+1 That's what it looks like to me.:)
 
Very educational, I love to learn these type of things about my favorite bird. Thank you for posting the nice pictures. Also Congrats on the very successful hunt.......Bob
 
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Thanks Guys.

Just the answer I was looking for. The bird didn't have any abnormally long spurs and/or tail feathers.
 
At one time there were a lot of Afghan whitewing pheasants introduced all over, most prominently in New Mexico, but like everything else they were supposed to be better adaptive and superior, so they got a chance everywhere, looks like the recessive gene pool surfaced to me!
 
oldandnew said:
At one time there were a lot of Afghan whitewing pheasants introduced all over, most prominently in New Mexico, but like everything else they were supposed to be better adaptive and superior, so they got a chance everywhere, looks like the recessive gene pool surfaced to me!
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When the White-Winged pheasants were first brought to the U. S. in the late fifties and early sixties they came from wild-trapped birds that had never been in pens (f1) and they were extremely wild and wary. The wildness and wariness help them survive the bad predators.

The White-Winged pheasant also know as the Bianchi Pheasant (AKA Afghan Whitewing pheasant) has survived well and added wariness, alertness and agility to the wild ringneck gene pool and the helps the wild pheasant survive in areas where predator numbers are up.

In areas of the country where they have been released (in the early to mid sixties) like New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and the S. E. Missouri, you can still see a strong remnant of the white winged pheasant. See article below:

http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/v077n04/p0409-p0414.pdf
http://www.fws.gov/news/historic/1968/19680829b.pdf


Google: Bosque Del Apache pheasants

As with all True Pheasants (ringneck type) the whitewing pheasants crossed with wild ringnecks, since they are the same specie (hens look alike) and thats what happen in New Mexico and in Texas. The ring around the neck is dominant but the roosters will inherit the predator wary and alert traits of the pure whitewing pheasant.

All along the upper Rio Grande river in New Mexico every third rooster will have a full or partial ring, look at photos below:

http://www.pbase.com/gschmickle/image/91053028

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2197361200036808327CsDykm

http://www.bobgarvinphoto.com/Wildlife/Game-Birds/11952126_Gyj83/1/846635679_KRYVU#846635809_fQcAX

http://www.pbase.com/silverbowff/image/38925285

Looking back over forty-five or fifty year since the White-Winged pheasants were first released there is no doubt in my mind that this bird has been a big help in the survival and expansion of the wild ringneck pheasant range in the southwest.

In my opinion its not the heat or calcium that slows down the southward expansion of the pheasant range, its predators.
 
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Very informative. Thanks for sharing the information everyone. Hunting here in Colorado, I've yet to see anything other than a pure looking ringneck. Hopefully, I'll get a surprise one day.
 
I have a similar one on the wall. There are a couple of other variations that while not common are ocasionally seen. There is one spot where I hunt that we get a bird about every year that is very bronze on the chest, without the deeper copper tint. Also have seen two "blue" pheasants there. One smaller one went in the bag. A much better speciman I missed.
 
I do some taxidermy work on birds and have seen many variations in color over the years. If you look at a pile of birds they all look the same but if you pull them out out individually you will see subtule differences. The most common differences are width and length of the white ring, width of the black bars on the tail, and coloration on the top of the head. I have seen many without much white on the head, in fact it seems many of the older birds have less white on their heads. There are also differences in wild birds and those that come from pen raised stock. The most common difference is the coloration of the side pockets and back. Pen raised birds will generally be a lighter copper color in these areas. If I was to guess I would say that that bird may have come from pen raised stock.
 
Didn't see the heads of any Roosters up-close this morning, but the rascals must have big legs, 'cuz they sure could run!
 
He's most likely Korean, Chinese, Formoson, or a cross between those breeds. He's not old and faded. His colors coincide with the breed.

Most likely the birds next to him have hints of the same breed/breeds listed above too. They're just mixed with darker (redder) breeds such as the Mongolian for example.:) 1pheas4

Chinese http://www.gamebirdhunts.com/Portals/0/1614_ringneck.jpg
 
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