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PHEASANT
Phasianus colchicus
 Pheasant photo © Tommy Holden
 

• Population
  changes

• Productivity
  trends

• Additional
  information
Conservation listings
Europe: no SPEC category (favourable conservation status in Europe, not concentrated in Europe)
UK: not listed (introduced)
Long-term trend
England: moderate increase
UK population size
1,800,000–1,900,000 females in 2000 (Robertson et al. 1989, updated using CBC/BBS trend: BiE04, APEP06)
Status summary
Pheasants have increased in abundance since the 1960s, at a rate that appears to be accelerating, but it must be noted that numbers of this introduced gamebird are determined principally by releases of reared birds for shooting (Marchant et al. 1990). The Game Conservancy Trust estimates that about 20–22 million birds are released in the UK each autumn, a figure that has increased approximately four-fold since the mid 1960s (Tapper 1999; also here). More than two million newly released birds are expected to survive until spring, when they must form the major part of the breeding population.The BBS records increase in England and Wales, but little change in Scotland since 1994. During 1968–88, a period when the total biomass of birds in Britain fell by an estimated 10%, CBC data indicate that Pheasant biomass rose by about 2,500 tonnes – more than ten times more than any other species (Dolton & Brooke 1999). High Pheasant densities potentially have negative effects, that have not been adequately studied, on native UK birds: these include the effect on the structure of the field layer, the spread of disease and parasites, and competition for food (Fuller et al. 2005). Infection with caecal nematodes from farm-reared Pheasants may be contributing to the decline of Grey Partridges in Britain (Tompkins et al. 2002).
 

Population changes
CBC/BBS England graph
 
Table of population changes for Pheasant

Source Period
(yrs)		 Years Plots
(n)		 Change
(%)		 Lower
limit		 Upper
limit		 Alert Comment
CBC/BBS England 39 1967-2006 475 99 53 187    
  25 1981-2006 686 92 58 130    
  10 1996-2006 1378 36 29 42    
  5 2001-2006 1484 20 16 24    
BBS UK 11 1995-2006 1511 36 28 43    
  10 1996-2006 1561 35 29 42    
  5 2001-2006 1764 19 15 23    
BBS England 11 1995-2006 1276 39 30 47    
  10 1996-2006 1317 37 29 43    
  5 2001-2006 1484 20 14 23    
BBS Scotland 11 1995-2006 114 6 -15 30    
  10 1996-2006 116 10 -8 33    
  5 2001-2006 125 8 -3 23    
BBS Wales 11 1995-2006 82 57 32 97    
  10 1996-2006 85 66 42 99    
  5 2001-2006 103 52 29 69    
BBS N.Ireland 11 1995-2006 30 148 46 239    
  10 1996-2006 33 111 40 167    
  5 2001-2006 40 41 12 75    

BBS acknowledgement
 
BBS UK graph
BBS England graph
BBS Scotland graph
BBS Wales graph
 

Productivity trends
Productivity information is not currently available for this species
 

Additional information
BTO blue divider
 

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This report should be cited as:
Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Leech, D.I., Joys, A.C., Noble, D.G.,
Barimore, C., Grantham, M.J., Risely, K. & Robinson, R.A. (2009).
Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2008.
BTO Research Report No. 516. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

Pages maintained by Iain Downie, Mandy T Andrews and Laura Smith: Last updated 18.02.2009