If you’ve ever heard ring-necked pheasants calling during early spring, you might have been hearing their territorial behavior.
Male pheasants are quite territorial during the breeding season. They will climb up on rocks or leaf piles to crow at regular intervals.
These calls are made to defend territories, and also to attract females.
This video is a perfect example of the body language & vocalizations associated with spring territorial behavior in pheasants.
You’ll get to see exactly what pheasants do with their body language while making their call, and I also shared some nature observation commentary to help you approach nature more carefully & observantly.
What Is Pheasant Territorial Behavior?
In early spring, the male pheasant will climb up to a lookout point & slowly turn around in circles while making an intermittent call.
This call happens in the video at 3:30, but to really understand the complete sequence of behavior, pay attention to my full analysis with extra lessons & takeaways to help you observe nature more skillfully.
Even if you don’t have pheasants in your area, you can still learn from this example because territorial behavior is a common activity in all birds.
Most modern humans miss 99% of all the amazing things to discover out in nature, and this pheasant is a great example of how you can grow your awareness simply by watching and listening to the great outdoors.
Then whenever you’re ready for more, here are some next steps to help you go deeper with local wild animals, bird language & nature observation!
- Start learning the basics of bird language
- Discover why having Naturalist Intelligence is so important in modern times – What Does It Mean To Be A Naturalist?
- Start a Nature Journal to record all your observations. It’s one of the best and easiest ways to improve your nature observation skills
Brenda Martell says
I usually love watching all creatures, however:lately we’ve had a turkey wake us up several mornings pecking on the window! He has definitely claimed this territory. He vocalizes, chases all the birds & even squirrels away. its almost Christmas. The corn field next to us was recently harvested. I’m wondering if that is the cause, & if he will leave soon? He’s beautiful, but I don’t want to loose the rest.