Gary,
I'd love for eBird to have as options Ring-necked Pheasant (feral) or
Ring-necked Pheasant (domestic). Either would more accurately represent the
status of Ring-necked Pheasant at least in western Washington, and likely
elsewhere. Until then, for the sake of Cornell's use of the data, I'll
record the species, although I don't count it on my personal life, state,
or county list.
Stephen Chase
On Fri, 5 Apr 2019 at 15:16, Gary Bletsch <
garybletsch at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
Dear Tweeters,
>
>
Yesterday I saw a Ring-necked Pheasant in Lewis County. I was about to
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enter the sighting on eBird, but I don't know if the species is really
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established there.
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>
Short version of question: are they countable in Lewis County?
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>
Long version is more of a comment than a question...
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>
On eBird, one can search for photos or other records of a species using
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certain criteria. I searched for records of immature or juvenile pheasants
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in Lewis County, to no avail. Then I searched for the entire state of
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Washington; there are just three photos of juvenile or immature pheasants
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for the whole state (two photos in Okanogan County and one in Yakima). None
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of those were what I'd call chicks.
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>
I seem to recall seeing a brood of pheasants somewhere in Eastern
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Washington, but I have nothing in my field notes to back up that long-ago
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memory. I did record seeing two birds that I thought were a pair once, in
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Grant County, but that is it...one suggestion of possible breeding, out of
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my 122 lifetime records of the species in this state.
>
>
The eBird map of Ring-necked Pheasant distribution in Washington shows
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them occurring across wide swaths of the state. Meanwhile, the map on page
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135 in the breeding bird atlas (*Breeding Birds of Washington State* by
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Smith, Mattocks & Cassidy) suggests a somewhat smaller range, lacking many
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of the peripheral sightings shown on the eBird maps. Most of the shaded
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"core zones" on the atlas map lack any data for breeding records--the
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shading just shows habitat modelling.
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The atlas came out in 1997, so there might be new information available.
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Even so, it is worth noting that the atlas shows concentrated areas of
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confirmed breeding records in just six areas: Port Angeles-Sequim;
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scattered Puget Sound sites in King, Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties;
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around Yakima; around the south end of Potholes Reservoir; northern Spokane
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County; and southern Walla Walla County.
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>
For Lewis County, the atlas shows one record of probable breeding
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evidence, plus seven "possibles." The "possibles" were birds "in suitable
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breeding habitat during nesting season" or "singing male present in
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suitable habitat."
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>
The status of this species in Washington has had me scratching my head for
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years. I cannot think of any other introduced bird species that is counted
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by so many birders in so many places where there is so little evidence for
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a self-sustaining population.
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>
Closer to my own birding patch, Skagit County, it amazes me that birders
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count pheasants at the Game Range (Wiley Slough). The birds are housed in a
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pen there, until it is time to release them for the hunt. They often
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continue to stay right next to the pen. The situation on the Samish Flats
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is the same--released birds.
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>
The atlas shows nothing beyond five records of "possible breeding
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evidence" in Skagit County. If I remember correctly, some of those five
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were my own observations, in places where I later learned that pheasants
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were being bred and released.
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>
My local birding friends and I have seen no evidence for breeding since
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then. I have never seen a juvenile Ring-necked Pheasant in the county. By
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contrast, I have seen baby Ruffed Grouse, baby Sooty Grouse, baby
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California Quail, baby White-tailed Ptarmigan, and even baby Spruce Grouse
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in Skagit County!
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Why no baby pheasants?
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The ABA has a web page on "Criteria for Determining Establishment of
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Exotics. Here is a link.
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http://listing.aba.org/criteria-determining-establishment-exotics/
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The document lists eight criteria for an exotic species to be countable by
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ABA rules. For Skagit County, and almost certainly several other Washington
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counties as well, the Ring-necked Pheasant fails on at least four of those
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criteria, loosely quoted here. Those would be criterion #4 (large enough
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population to survive routine mortality); #5 (sufficient offspring being
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produced); #7 (not directly dependent on humans); and #8 (published record
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that the first seven criteria have been met).
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>
These criteria, above all #5, stop me in my tracks, every time I start
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thinking about adding the Ring-necked Pheasant to my Skagit list. This goes
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for several other species that I have observed in the wild in Skagit County
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as well: Greylag Goose, Muscovy Duck, Chukar, Bobwhite, Wild Turkey,
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Helmeted Guinea Fowl, and Red Jungle Fowl. Eight species, down the drain!
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My apologies if this all sounds like pettifoggery.
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>
I'd still love to find out if they're countable in Lewis County!
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>
Yours truly,
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>
Gary Bletsch
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>
>
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>
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>
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>
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>
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