Black Pheasant.

[PurpleFloyd]

We were coming down the last stretch of the road from Mammoth in North Yellowstone into Gardiner and a black pheasant flushed on the right side of the road and flew across the road to the left side of the road. I have seen pictures of them but never saw on in the wild and that was one of the last places I was expecting to see one.

Anyway it was a great thing to see across the backdrops of the mountains.

[LABS4ME]

They are Melanistic mutants. Uncommon in the wild. Very common in domestic operations. Many pheasant breeders and game farms raise these as they tough, hardy birds and are just a color variation of the ringneck pheasant. They are especially striking up close when the sun hits their feathers and they come alive with color... purples, greens, blues...

If what you saw was truley a wild one, that is a very neat and rare sighting and one to remember. Especially in that setting!

Good Luck!

Ken

[harvey lee]

Thats correct Ken.

I use to hatch out approx 2,500 chicks from my birds and another 1,000 for others. I had about 5 pair of blacks for breeding.

I had about every varation of the Ringneck I think possible.

I think for me, the one that stood out was the golden pheasant. Man they are a beautiful bird.