Breeding Pheasant - A mating game

Proud cock pheasant with his ladies

Pheasant are not a native bird to the UK and therefore the majority of birds seen around the countryside have been released at some time, albeit a few successfully breed in the wild.  A previous blog on pheasants was published back in May last year. Sporting Estates invest huge amounts of time and effort into their bird stocks and so it is with great interest I am going to follow the breeding season of a few pheasant on the Dougarie Estate.

Davy Anderson with a small pen

The Estate hasn't bred it's own birds for quite a number of years, but the new gamekeeper, David Anderson, has a lot of experience in this area and will be testing his skills over the next few months.

One of the main pens

Capturing the birds provided the first hurdle, and Davy set traps to capture both male and female (Cocks & Hens), before transporting them back to the ready made avaries on the estate.  One one return journey - he stopped outside the lodge and commented about the number of hens he had seen while driving back, before realising he hadn't closed the basket on the back of the quad!

Female (hen) pheasant 

Undeterred, sufficient birds are now being managed in purpose built avaries.  There is plenty of room, as the cocks will fight for the females, along with fresh water, food and shelter.  The same needs of any animal and if the accommodation / care isn't good enough the birds are unlikely to breed.  The pen is covered to prevent predators (mainly buzzards - there are no foxes on Arran) from having an easy meal.

The birds enjoying a bit of sunshine

Unlike hens, pheasant tend only to lay eggs in the breeding season between February & April. So now we are just waiting for the first egg!

Images copyright of Arran in Focus

Pheasant - A brief overview

Pheasant cock

Pheasant are not a native bird in the UK although they have been around for a considerable time, possibly as early as the 10^th century. They are a regular sight on many country roads where they seem to forage at road edges, dicing with death, near to car wheels. They are very easy to spot along the Machrie Moor Road.

Cock with hen in the background

The main habitat of pheasant is around woodland edges, grassland and shrubby open ground, although they roost in trees of an evening and take shelter in woodlands.

Muted tones of the hen pheasant

The Estates that rear pheasant and conduct shoots take considerable care in managing the bird welfare and habitat for the birds.  This has an impact on other wildlife and a study by Game and wildlife conservation trust found this created favourable conditions for song birds and fauna.  It is the opinion of some experts that the pheasant population would collapse without the regular release of reared birds and the land management that goes with it.

Red legged partridge, also found in small numbers on Arran

The popularity of the pheasant as a game bird grew throughout the 19^th & 20^th century, overtaking the partridge. It is estimated that around 30 million pheasants are released each year. The pheasant is believed to be the most hunted bird in the world! Although commonly seen, the birds quickly recognise hunting parties and retreat to safety and hiding.

Pheasant retreating from human contact

The birds do not fly by choice, preferring to run or walk.  When they do fly, it is only for short distances and with a noisy wing sound and alarm call.

Working dog retrieving a hen pheasant

The male is known as a cock and the female a hen. The female, as with most birds, is much plainer and has a shorter tail. Young take the appearance of a female until they are around 10 weeks old when the male plumage begins to appear.

Some of a shoot 'bag'

The season for shoots in the UK is the 1^st October to the 1^st February, the birds are protected outside these months.


All photographs copyright of Arran in Focus

Dougarie Shoots

Dougarie is a country sporting estate and as such runs a number of pheasant shoots each year.  Prior to me taking up a role within the Estate I had never been on a shoot and knew very little about the subject (I still don’t!) but I’m learning fast and have now been on several on the Island.

The beaters gather at a very civilised time just before nine, some with dogs who were busy introducing themselves and clearly eager to get going.  After some discussion with the gamekeeper, dogs and people are crammed into a variety of 4WD’s, and were dispatched to the start of drive.  

The ground is rough and challenging to move across, hence the need for the dogs to be able to flush the birds forward. Depending on the drive (and there are usually about 6 in a day), it can be across moor, scrub or through the forests.  Most of the beaters carried sticks, not only for support but also to lay across the top of fences that had to be negotiated (hence preventing barb wire injuries!).

After spreading out, a short wait and then the horn blows to indicate the start. What surprised me most on my first shoot was the noise – not of the guns, but the banging of sticks, clackers, chirping, whistles and the flags snapping.  And all the time the gamekeeper controlling the line moving forward, stopping it while birds flushed out and generally ensuring we were all doing what we should. Before I knew it the horn blew again to stop the drive (and more importantly the guns).  As I discovered, it is usually at this point a perfect bird flies across the guns, and lives to fly another day.

At the end of the drive we all gathered near the guns, some dogs panting and taking a rest, while others went off to ‘pick up’ the downed birds.  This is not always as easy as it sounds as some birds continue to glide and can be a significant distance away.

In some cases it seems that the bird is nearly as big as the dog!

Of course when the beaters set off to the start of a drive, the guns set off to their ‘pegs’.  Each gun having been allocated a peg at the start. 

Some guns also have their own dogs, which wait patiently by, ready to ‘pick up’ nearby downed birds on command. On one shoot I stayed with the guns and realised the importance of controlling the beaters to ensure a steady flow of birds and not a great flush all at once.

All birds picked up, everyone loaded back into vehicles and it was off to the next drive.  

And at the end, some very tired dogs.