We have these birds as a game bird species. They are introduced from European and Chinese/Manchurian populations. Every once in a while a pheasant specialist collects and propagates subpecies of the common pheasant, like the Afghan white-winged subspecies and cultivates it as a game bird. The white-wings are more adapted to arid climates than the typical European and East Asian variants.
But we have no native pheasants to North America. We do have many different species of grouse. The prairie chickens are a species of grouse, closely related to the sharp-tailed grouse. Not in display, those three species look like hen common pheasants. Early explorers often called them pheasants without looking into their taxonomy.
The same thing occurred with ruffed grouse, which are called patridges in some regions. And our "quail" aren't even remotely related to the Coturnix quail of the Old World. The Odontophoridae quail are very different from the Coturnix species. They are more like partidges in their behavior.
But these are far from the only North American creatures that have been incorrectly seen as being the same species as the European form. We call a relative of the red deer an "Elk." And the true Elk, we call moose. Bison aren't Asian or African buffalo. The pronghorn isn't an antelope, and the mountain goat isn't a goat.
We have these birds as a game bird species. They are introduced from European and Chinese/Manchurian populations. Every once in a while a pheasant specialist collects and propagates subpecies of the common pheasant, like the Afghan white-winged subspecies and cultivates it as a game bird. The white-wings are more adapted to arid climates than the typical European and East Asian variants.
ReplyDeleteBut we have no native pheasants to North America. We do have many different species of grouse. The prairie chickens are a species of grouse, closely related to the sharp-tailed grouse. Not in display, those three species look like hen common pheasants. Early explorers often called them pheasants without looking into their taxonomy.
The same thing occurred with ruffed grouse, which are called patridges in some regions. And our "quail" aren't even remotely related to the Coturnix quail of the Old World. The Odontophoridae quail are very different from the Coturnix species. They are more like partidges in their behavior.
But these are far from the only North American creatures that have been incorrectly seen as being the same species as the European form. We call a relative of the red deer an "Elk." And the true Elk, we call moose. Bison aren't Asian or African buffalo. The pronghorn isn't an antelope, and the mountain goat isn't a goat.