Pheasant
Featured in: Year 2: Living things and their habitats
Pheasant
Bird
A large, long-tailed bird often seen in woodland edges and fields.
💡 Fun Facts
- Male pheasants are brightly coloured with green heads and red faces, while females are a camouflaged brown.
- They prefer to run rather than fly when escaping danger.
- They roost (sleep) in trees at night to stay safe from foxes.
Name Story
Phasianus colchicus
means “the bird from the River Phasis”
What does its name mean?
- Phasianus — (bird) of the PhasisGreek; the River Phasis (now the Rioni) in the land of Colchis, in modern Georgia
- colchicus — of ColchisLatin; the same region — the land of the Golden Fleece legend
- pheasant — the Phasian birdEnglish, traced back to the very same river Phasis
Both the English name and the scientific name mean 'the bird from the River Phasis' — a real river in Georgia, in the land of Jason and the Golden Fleece. It is a bird named after a river, twice over, carried west to Britain long ago, where it now lives wild.