Sights to bring cheer

There are 49 species of pheasant and many of them are under threat of extinction, largely due to habitat loss, says David Tomlinson

- David Tomlinson

There’s a tremendous thrill when you finally spy your quarry, especially when you’ve traveled several thousand miles in its pursuit. When I eventually managed to find a trio of cheer pheasants, feeding on a shaded hillside high in the Himalayas, I felt that wonderful rush of adrenaline that comes after a long, arduous and particularly difficult hunt.

I had enjoyed a similar sensation a few years before in a rainforest in Malaysia when I last managed to see great argus, another spectacular member of the pheasant family. Despite its size — it’s up to 200cm long — it is ridiculously difficult to see in its jungle home.

We are all familiar with the common or ring-necked pheasant, but it happens to be one of 49 species that make up the Phasianinae, whose members include some of the most spectacular birds in the world. Many of them are severely endangered, usually due to loss of habitat coupled with uncontrolled hunting. No one has ever seen all 49 species in a wild state; to do so would be an extraordinary feat. Despite having traveled widely, I’ve only seen a handful of pheasant species.

One of my notable failures took place in northern Greece a few years ago. I was in the Nestos Delta, searching for black-necked pheasants, a race of the common variety. The small population that occurs there is special because it is a remnant of the westernmost native population of Phasianus colchicus. The vegetation in the delta is lush, the pheasants wary and, in a morning’s search, I never managed so much as a glimpse, though I did hear a cock crowing.