Date: 6/6/26 7:30 pm From: Miguel Christie via groups.io <christiemiguel...> Subject: Re: [sbcobirding] Ring-necked Pheasant and eBird
Hi Wim, all
About the Ring-necked Pheasant issue, I agree with Wim. If it were
"naturalized" in the Co, such a large conspicuous sedentary species should
have many regular sightings, especially in places such as LLC, which must
be one of the most heavily birded spots on the planet.
Besides, years ago I picked up a road-killed bird on Bull Canyon Road (east
of Santa Maria, actually SLO Co, but very close to the co line), and days
later saw a live male in the same area (and then, never again).
Photos show the typical frayed feathers of a caged bird, so it was either
escaped or released, which is the most likely explanation for all the other
random records in the co.
I would not include the species until someone actually documents a local
breeding event.
Best, Miguel
see < https://ebird.org/checklist/S59016445 >
Roadkill record upload to CROS 58393 : 2017.04.11; mic#2373; Ring-neck
Pheasant; 00; 34.995253, -120.381850; Bull Cyn Rd; ~0.2 mi S of Hwy 166;
SLO Co.; Weedy slope/ creek.; Adult; Fresh plump 'intact'.
(California Roadkill Observation System. The actual specimen went to the
SBMNH).
On Sat, Jun 6, 2026 at 3:40 PM Wim van Dam via groups.io <wim.van.dam=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> On eBird, Ring-necked Pheasant is listed as one of the 514 species of our
> county ("Naturalized"):
> https://ebird.org/region/US-CA-083/bird-list >
> Is this a mistake? While it is true that California has established
> populations, I don't think that the ones that we have should be considered
> part of these populations. This recent checklist (
> https://ebird.org/checklist/S324483530) has the bird labelled as
> "Escapee", but the earlier checklists of Lake Los Carneros Park (2012 and
> 2013), Cachuma Lake (2015), Saint Francis Ranch (2022) have it as
> "Naturalized". I'm surprised by these different labels.
>
> Yes, I went down this rabbit hole while thinking about our Swinhoe's
> White-eye, which likely *are* part of the established California
> population.
>
> Wim
>
> --
> Wim van Dam (Solvang, CA)
> SBCO #409: Common Grackle*
>
>
>
