Common Pheasant (White/Leucistic)

The common pheasant is a bird we are all familiar with, though it is an introduced species here in the UK. There is a steady breeding population in some areas, but this is boosted annually by shoots, who release many thousands annually into game coverts the length and breadth of the UK. The pheasant is the staple of the shooting world and the huge amount of covert managed for them, along with the massive volumes of food put out, benefits many thousands of other species from tiny mammals to deer and thousands of resident and migratory birds, who winter in the woods. They also benefit from the reduced numbers of certain predators in these areas such as foxes, corvids and mustelids.

There are many breeds of Pheasant available to shoot managers today and many cross breeds between the various breeds, some are smaller in size, better for flatter ground, requiring less feed and said to be able to gain height faster, whilst others may be hardier for high ground. Some breeds are ideal for a small occasional shoot, but may soon vacate the area if shot too regularly. The options then are many and varied, according to the keepers preferences, the land on which they are reared and the kind of management and shooting being done. Pheasant are also a great eating bird and if cooked properly are a delicious alternative to the run of the mill chicken.

Pheasant taxidermy

The pheasant pictured here is a white or leucistic pheasant, sometimes wrongly identified as an albino. The albino has no dark pigment at all, so has the characteristic pink eyes. The white pheasant is often put out deliberately and a “fine” is placed on any hapless gun careless enough to shoot it.

This particular pheasant is presented on a naturally weathered old oak fence post with a leaf litter base. Ideally a white pheasant should be cased, but the huge tail on pheasants means that the cost of the case is disproportionately high and also has a large footprint, consequently they are rarely cased.

This mount consists of the following components:

• Mounted cock pheasant.
• Weathered fence post.
• Winter leaf litter base.

THIS MOUNT IS A COMMISSIONED PIECE AND IS NOT FOR SALE.