The ring-necked pheasant is a native of eastern Asia. Plumage of the male is gaudy and brilliant. Prominent characteristics are a greenish-blue head, a white ring around the neck, a pale bluish rump patch, and a long, pointed tail barred with black. Coloration of the female is more drab with a mottled blend of browns with buff and dusky markings. Pheasants prefer diversified agricultural and grain-producing regions.
Pheasants require food, cover and a place with right conditions for reproduction to be abundant.
A multitude of changes in our environment, ranging from more efficient farming to urban sprawl, are responsible for decreased habitat and consequently decreased pheasants. Pheasant populations characteristically exhibit relatively high rates of reproduction and high mortality rates are. This will occur whether the population is hunted or not and involves the loss of both hens and roosters. Changes in pheasant numbers from year to year are habitat related. The problem of low population levels cannot be solved by stocking more pheasants, controlling predators or curtailing hunting.