Birds
Common Pheasant
Phasianus colchicus · Fazan
A large, long-tailed gamebird introduced to Romania for hunting and now found across the lowlands and hills.
At a glance
- Status in Romania
- Resident
- Habitat
- Meadow
- Activity
- Morning · Daytime · Evening
- Diet
- Where introduced it is omnivorous and opportunistic: fruit, seeds, leaves and buds, insects, reptiles, small mammals and the chicks of other birds.
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)
- Photography difficulty
- Easy to observe
Photograph this species
- Best months
- All year
- Best time / activity
- Morning · Daytime · Evening
- Photography difficulty
- Easy to observe
- Where to look
- Field edges, stubble and rough cover in farmland, especially early and late in the day.
Months confirmed by a Romanian source. General guidance, not local sightings.
Photography Guide
Practical starting points based on the species’ behaviour and habitat, not fixed rules.
- Where and how to look
- Field edges, stubble and rough cover in farmland, especially early and late in the day.
- Best time / activity
- Morning · Daytime · Evening
- Behaviour to anticipate
- Males stepping out of cover at field edges.
- Photography difficulty
- Easy to observe
- Starting shutter speed
- 1/1000 sec or faster; faster if the bird flushes.
- Fieldcraft
- Stay in a vehicle or behind cover at a field edge and let the bird come into the open.
- Ethics
- Do not flush birds or walk into cover where hens may be nesting on the ground.
Identification
Males are 70–90 cm, including a long barred tail of 35–45 cm, mainly brown with black markings, a metallic green head and neck, sometimes a white collar, and red facial skin. Females and juveniles are smaller, plain brown and heavily streaked.
Habitat
Farmland with arable fields, meadows and pastures, stubble fields and well-vegetated village edges.
Distribution
An introduced species, present across the whole country at low and middle altitudes.
Approximate range in Romania
Diet
Where introduced it is omnivorous and opportunistic: fruit, seeds, leaves and buds, insects, reptiles, small mammals and the chicks of other birds.
Behaviour
Polygamous: one male breeds with several females. Birds in Romania, as elsewhere in Europe, are a mix of hybrids between races, with or without a full white collar.
Seasonality in Romania
Breeds in Romania and is resident. It was introduced to Romania for hunting.
PresentRareAbsentUnknown
Presence
Breeding
Migration
Wintering
About this data
Source-verified months inform the seasonal filters. Local timing can vary. Unconfirmed months do not imply absence. Presence verification is separate from monthly status; each month's details identify its verification. Lighter bands mark estimated timing. Empty event rows mean no event is recorded, not confirmed absence.
Breeding
A simple nest of plant material in a shallow scrape on the ground; clutches of 7–14 eggs, incubated for 22–25 days.