Black Pheasant

rpmcmurphy

Hi Guys,
while driving to my fathers farm today i spotted what appeared to be a large black pheasant foraging in a neighbours farmland. I tried to get a good photograph with my smartphone but resulting images were quite poor. I will attach them in a subsequent post to this thread. It had the characteristic body shape, movement, red eye ring but no white neck ring. The plumage
also had an iridescent green blue sheen. A quick google resulted in melanistic pheasant, a term I have encountered on flytying websites when ordering new materials.
Are these birds common in the wild? I am based in South Leitrim. I am reluctant to consult the few members of my local gunclub for obvious reasons. Could it possibly be an intentional release by a breeder or even an escapee?

https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/melanistic_mutant_pheasant.html

rpmcmurphy

here's another photo

rpmcmurphy

last one

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Yes, quite common. Gun clubs release all kinds of crosses and colorations.

rpmcmurphy

Thanks Srameen for clearing that up. I thought i was seeing things at first.

Half-cocked

Usually referred to as a Melanistic. Can occur naturally in many species but with pheasants it's likely to have been deliberately bred like that.