It turns out that Ringneck Pheasants (Phasianus colchicus torquatus) aren't native to this continent; they were first introduced from China to the Willamette Valley of Oregon in 1881. Here's a sound file of the crow call made by the cocks, which is the call we hear most often. It's part of the male's process of establishing territory. The first part of the sound file is the actual call, and then you'll hear the bird fluttering away (which often happens if you spook them). We've also got Ty's version of the crow call for your listening pleasure. The other call we often hear sounds like clucking, although I'm not sure whether it's the male or female making the sound.
Off to the south of our house in Hamilton, part of the land is the Fetch Inn Hunting Preserve, and there are Ringneck Pheasants on the property. We hear them all the time, and sometimes they come out of the preserve and into our neighborhood. Since they're kind of a fixture around here, and they're sort of a crazy looking bird, I've been trying (haphazardly) to get a good photo of one of the colorful males (cocks). The problem is, they're so darned skittish, they often run away if you even get near the window of your house. And, heaven forbid you actually try to open the door of your house to get a look... Well, yesterday I got really lucky. I managed to crack open the front door of our house and stick out my big telephoto lens to get a shot. A cock was there with a female (hen) and they didn't detect my presence. I managed to get off four shots in fairly good light (scroll down the page to see the pictures) before they drifted back into the taller grass. The first one includes the hen, and the next three are just the cock.
Phasianus from a Greek word referring to a river where the pheasants were numerous; colchicus from the region Colchis; torquatus from a Latin word meaning adorned with a collar, a reference to the white neck ring
