white pheasant

meathshooter

was out driving today and saw a white pheasant is this common cause,as I have never seen one before

kerryman12

first for me also, though say a albino rabbit once :eek:

pm.

meathshooter wrote: »

was out driving today and saw a white pheasant is this common cause,as I have never seen one before

no, more than likely escaped from someones Avery.

Auldloon

Sounds well worth a morning off work:)

meathshooter

Chuileog wrote: »

Sounds well worth a morning off work:)

dont know its tempting its on land I have permission to shoot,wouldnt like to shoot If it was some kind of rare bird,got fairly close to it well within gun range

meathshooter

done a google search seems its caused from selective breeding(www.flintshire.com)any one know a good taxidermist ?

maglite

is it for the older guns around????

bunny shooter

Would it be bad luck to shoot it ? There was a white duck in our area for a while and nobody would shoot it as it was believed it would be bad luck.

There was white pheasant in a neighbouring gun clubs area and soneone shot it, there was a lot of bad feeling after it, landowners in the area got very upset and threatened to ban all shooting

veXual

Our club has released Silver Pheasants in the past though they were never seen again any chance they were spotted round the midlands?

meathstevie

Bit of a rarity, I'd say they've been reared for decorative purposes. Poor devil has limited chances in the wild though. One of it's main defences, camouflage, is missing. Hope he's good fast legs and good wings.

meathshooter

meathstevie wrote: »

Bit of a rarity, I'd say they've been reared for decorative purposes. Poor devil has limited chances in the wild though. One of it's main defences, camouflage, is missing. Hope he's good fast legs and good wings.

its alive with foxes where I saw it, shot 4 in the last week

bitemybanger

Never saw a white phesant but ive seen two albino rabbits in the same area but not the same warren, maybee somones pet got loose and started breeding with wild rabbits, havnt heard of this anywhere else, have you?

bunny shooter

bitemybanger wrote: »

Never saw a white phesant but ive seen two albino rabbits in the same area but not the same warren, maybee somones pet got loose and started breeding with wild rabbits, havnt heard of this anywhere else, have you?

Met a good few black rabbits, one ginger one but never white

J.R.

A white pheasant is often released on purpose by gamekeepers on driven shoots. The thinking behind it was it was easy to spot & if missing it tipped them off that poachers were about.

On the day of the shoot all were warned not to shoot it. Some would, on purpose, to acquire an unusual trophy.

The person who shot the white pheasant had to pay a fine ( usually £50 Sterling) & buy round of drinks for everyone on the shoot!

J.R.

What they look like:

Mellor

pretty bird.

Never seen one, but I'm probably alot younger and far less years in the field than most here.

It could probably occur naturally, just like other albino morphs, but a natural one would be rare, also the fact that they are easily spotted means that they would rarely make it past a few months or the year mark



edit: How would you tell the difference between a white cock and a white hen in flight, quite difficult i'd imagine


seconf edit: after seeing this picture of a ring neck and white pheasant cross,

It refreshed my memory, I did see a similar birds at the start of the month. It was a c.3 year old cock from a driven shoot and his wings were white like the photo above. Could this have been a white cross from a driven shoot? (his head wasn't white btw)

flanum

*bump*

Are ye sure it wasnt a "white-eared" pheasant? i worked for a short while when i was a lad on a game farm in tarmonbarry, there were quite a few odd pheasants in the pens including melanistics and goldens.
they were usually thrown in with a batch as a novelty or trophy bird.

eoinkildare

there was an albino mallard on our local canal stretch for a few months one year. he started off as a yellow chick and looked like a chick you'd see on an ad at easter! when he got his adult feathers he was pure white with a yellow beak. one dusk evening a farmer i know went out shooting and shot it on seeing the silhouette passing over. he was raging he had shot it and so were we. he was like our wild pet duck!
eoin

J.R.

I came across one years ago - rose & came right over me at about 30 yards - I let it go ...absolute beauty & felt it was a shame to shoot....some others on the fox hunt thought I was crazy!!

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bunny shooter

There was a white mallard and a white pheasant in our area a few years ago. Nobody would shoot them. Older shooters told me it is bad luck to shoot white mallard or duck? Anyone know more about this bad omen ? We even have a massive mostly white dog fox in one area ?

Auldloon

This was in Scottish papers and tv news the other day. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7238534.stm

bunny shooter
Could be similar superstition to what you been hearing.

alan123

Ive seen one in captivity before. In my opinion... if that guy can beat the predators then I aint gonna take him... hes earned his free pass!

I had a blackbird in my garden last year all white with a black head.

A great place to see all types of exotic pheasants is Newbridge farm in Donabate at the week end. Great for the kids and to make the hunters mouth water!!! I was there last week end and they even have an Azure winged magpie.

Its a long time since I saw white dog poo mind you!!!

Trojan911

[url=https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/32942/50094.jpg[/url] arrived in my inbox last month (the picture not the bird). An albino peacock?

alan123

34gram 6's!

spideog7

Here's a pretty white mallard

I've been told aswell that there's a cock pheasant with a white wing along my regular hunting path, unfortunately I only got out a few times this season and only got 2 pheasants, didn't see this fellow yet. The guy who told me raised him but he doesn't shoot them at all, he let's them out around the place. There's loads of them (normal pheasants ) but I didn't get much time out and my dog is only young yet. They'll probably start killing each other come breeding season !!