Phineaus comes calling

We have this Pheasant that has moved into the neighbourhood. He first appeared over two years ago (maybe even three years) - we first would see him off in the corner of the yard and scooting around the bushes. We think he may have come in on a train - maybe a grain car attracted him then when train stopped in behind the house while waiting for another train to get into the siding up at Brunswick Beach he hopped off the car and ended up here. That's our story as to how he ended up here - he certainly is not in his natural habitat. An oceanside village is not the home of many pheasants.

The first year we saw him only occasionally and off in the distance. He slowly started to come into the back yards looking for bird seed from the various bird feeders in the neighbourhood. One set of neighbours drove off to the nearest Co Op and bought him some pheasant food. He became a regular visitor to their backyard and started to come around even when people were out and about in the yard. We purchased Cracked Corn and started putting it in the yard for him. He quickly became a regular visitor to the yard. In the summer coming twice a day - morning and late afternoon.

Now, in the winter he comes every morning between 9-11 a.m. He is not an early riser at this time of the year. He likes the corn, also eats the bird seed and really likes the left over AviCake from the Cockatiels. We spread the corn after he arrives because the Jays and Pigeons would eat it all if he wasn't around. If he has to wait too long to be fed he will start to call - quite persistently - kind of a crow/cluck sound.

Last spring the neighbours bought him two females for company - and he seemed to enjoy them and would start crowing and flapping his wings about 5 a.m. every morning. Unfortunately both the females (Phoebe and Phyllis) did not live out the year. We are not sure how long pheasants live in the wild, best guess is Phineaus is going on his third year here, so he must be at least 4 years old now. He is a very good looking bird.