Reeves's Pheasant x Common (Ring-necked) Pheasant hybrid Syrmaticus reevesii x Phasianus colchicus
The introduced Reeves's Pheasant population in the Norfolk Brecks appears to be increasing rapidly and as is often the case with species populations becoming established in a new area, hybrids appear. In this situation the incidence of hybrids may be increased as a result of a disproportionate number of males among the Reeves's Pheasant population.
I'm grateful to Spence for drawing my attention to the appearance of this hybrid.
The next bird was in the same copse as the last one (still present on the same day). In fact it was displaying on the very same log that the last one was displaying on 3 years earlier. Its appearance is quite different, presumably the offspring of a Tenebrosus variant of Common Pheasant.
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male Reeves's Pheasant x tenebrosus Common Pheasant hybrid, Threxton Hill (Norfolk, UK), 21st March 2015
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