The Red Pheasant

There is a new pheasant around. He is a traditional rich red colour, not like my old faithful turquoise one, who I nurtured from a tiny brown and cream ball of fluff, running around on spindly legs and oversized feet. Ostracized by his siblings and very nervous, he learned to trust me and as he grew, stopped following his family, who continually chased him away, and he learned to live on his own. Of course, I was not to know that this turquoise wonder would turn out to be so handsome, as all through his adult phase he wore the usual young male garb of a female pheasant.


He lives in and around the garden, and the slightest view through the window of one of his human friends brings him running for a handful of food. This winter, however, he has been joined by the new, previously mentioned, pheasant. Sometimes they are together, and increasingly often, they are apart. The new rich red one is very nervous of humans, which is a good thing really, but he bullies the faithful old turquoise and the other creatures. As soon as the squirrels appear, the turquoise pheasant rushes away across the lawn as if he fears for his safety, where as the new red one stands his ground, puffs up his feathers until he is almost twice his size, holds out his wings slightly and slowly advances on the squirrels, who immediately take off. He tries these same tactics on pigeons with excellent results. In the beginning, the pigeons, who were used to the quiet turquoise pheasant retreating and leaving all the food for them, were surprised when the red one exhibited different behavior, and they tried to ignore him and snatch up all the food, however, the red pheasant had another trick up his sleeve – this one a winner. When his tactics had no effect on the pigeons, he would suddenly rush at them and peck them. Feathers would fly and so did the pigeons. They have now learned he is the new boss and they instantly give way to him.