Shot a strange pheasant in cental KS over the weekend...

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drewswhips

New member
I was in the McPherson area over the weekend and shot what I thought was a rooster (saw a dark head and shot). When I picked it up, it was something I'd never seen before. It had a dark head similar to a rooster, but a light body. They body coloring was not like a hen pheasant, but rather more like a hen mallard. It didn't have any spurs, so I left it, but did take the head home. Pics are the head and a rooster. Any ideas???? We saw quail everywhere we went, 70 to 100 on Friday. Great hunting.
http://drewswhips.com/DSCN0160.JPG
http://drewswhips.com/DSCN0161.JPG
 
It looks like you shot a young 2nd or 3rd hatch rooster that hadn't fully developed yet. We shot a rooster that didn't have any spurs and short tail feathers but his head was red and he had a slight off colored white neck.
 
Wish you had pic's of the body. There are a few different species of pheasant and they can cross breed. Do you know if anyone raises birds in the area?
 
BleuBijou said:
Wish you had pic's of the body. There are a few different species of pheasant and they can cross breed. Do you know if anyone raises birds in the area?
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I think this guy might be onto something. There is a chance that it was a genetic freak, but there's also a chance it was part yellow or red golden and part ringneck. Reeves pheasants are also strange looking though they are a bit bigger than a ringneck. The yellow and red goldens are a bit smaller than your average adult ringneck.

The head was close enough that I would've definitely kept the entire bird. Even if the markings would've been like a hen's, the appearance of the head is so close to a rooster that it would take a real jerk to write you up for it. That would be like ticketing someone for shooting a shed-antler buck during the doe only season.
 
drewswhips said:
I was in the McPherson area over the weekend and shot what I thought was a rooster (saw a dark head and shot). When I picked it up, it was something I'd never seen before. It had a dark head similar to a rooster, but a light body. They body coloring was not like a hen pheasant, but rather more like a hen mallard. It didn't have any spurs, so I left it, but did take the head home. Pics are the head and a rooster. Any ideas???? We saw quail everywhere we went, 70 to 100 on Friday. Great hunting.
http://drewswhips.com/DSCN0160.JPG
http://drewswhips.com/DSCN0161.JPG
Click to expand...

That's just a real young rooster there.
 
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I really don't think it was a young rooster. It had no typical rooster markings at all on the body. The body coloring was a the same, like the few feathers you can see at the bottom of the head. I'm wishing now I would have kept it, but my uncle didn't want to chance getting a ticket. It could have been some kind of cross, but it looked similar to some of the hermaphrodite pictures (thanks for posting those). The difference was all the feathers on the body were the same pattern. I'd go back and get it, but it's a 200 mile drive and I'm sure it's in a coyote belly by now. :) Thanks for the input... Drew

BTW... Here's a short video from the weekend. We did miss few...
http://www.youtube.com/user/drewswhips#p/a/u/0/3WEVgdaX5XU
 
No real cheek patch, this is not a young pheasant shot in late January. Even when they are still brown they have a cheek patch. It may not be red yet, but they have one. Raised birds for years, this looks at least half golden, but we do not have the body to be sure. Those hermorphodite pheasants, can't blame any one for shooting those. Sweet pic's.
 
With a head like that, never mind what it is, Why the heck did you leave it in the field? It is clearly a rooster or at the very least a bird any warden in the world would never ?. You may have thrown away a once and a life time mount.:eek: OH Well. Maybe youl get lucky and get another one next time.
 
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I totally agree that it's a male. And wish you had a pic of the whole thing.
People do raise all these exotics and crosses. You got a result.
 
mnmthunting said:
I totally agree that it's a male. And wish you had a pic of the whole thing.
People do raise all these exotics and crosses. You got a result.
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Drewswhip mentioned the bird DID NOT HAVE SPURS. This time of year it's can't be a young bird. Therefore it should have spurs by now.

Every hermaphidite pheasant I've taken/seen was missing spurs (though not sujesting they can't have them). I posted pics of hermaphidite pheasant pelts on the first page. Not one of these birds had spurs even if it favored the rooster coloring and features. Also, there's a white spec below the eye of this bird. This is a dead giveaway for the Manchurian ring-neck line. Below I've posted a pic of a pure Manchurian.

http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae150/1pheas4/pure-man-pic.gif
 
We left it behind because, by legal definition, it was a hen. It had no sign of spurs (or any bumps) and the plumage would not have passed legally as a rooster, except for maybe the head. Looking back though, I wish I would have at least taken it back to the truck to get a picture of the whole thing. I sure it wasn't a young rooster, likely a hermaphrodite or perhaps some kind of cross. Maybe they'll be another next year.....
 
1pheas4 said:
Here's some more pics of hermaphrodite pheasants. Some look more like roosters, others like hens. The last pic is of a nice rooster I shot with a very red colored tail. I did the taxidermy myself. All the pics are of wild pheasants. The hermaphrodites that look like hens had a red waddle, or cackled when flushed.
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae150/1pheas4/135_2312.jpg
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae150/1pheas4/135_2313.jpg
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The best answer for the male and female plumage is that the old hens are having hormone deficiency changes as they get older. Cock treat them just like other hens and of course they don't realize they have changing male plumage. These female pheasant never develop spurs, ear-turfs and a spectacular tail because those features are under the control of another hormone testosterone.

These pheasants are are not mutations nor hermaphrodites but are called gynandromorphs, a sign of a long living hen population, which is a good sign.

To read more on this subject go to page 18 and 19 of Peter Robertson' s book "A Natural History of the Pheasant". A great number of thing I disagree with in this book but in general good background information on pheasants.
 
About 8 years ago I shot a bird on a farmers private property in SD when it flushed and I saw the red head patch and heard a cackle [multiple bird flush]. As it was smaller and looked weird, I showed it to him and he called it a morphadite, a cross between a rooster and a hen, and said he was glad I shot it as "we don't want them around here". I counted it as a rooster towards my daily limit.
 
Preston1 said:
"The best answer for the male and female plumage is that the old hens are having hormone deficiency changes as they get older. Cock treat them just like other hens and of course they don't realize they have changing male plumage. These female pheasant never develop spurs, ear-turfs and a spectacular tail because those features are under the control of another hormone testosterone."

Thank you for the clarification Preston1. I believe it may have been Robertson's book that also talked about the theory of a true hermaphrodite forming because of complications within the hen's uterus (such as a stray lead shot). What do you think about the pelts I have? Any come across as "true" hermaphrodite pheasants? Let me know what you think.
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