South Dakota State Bird: Ring-necked Pheasant
Fact-checked • Updated November 27, 2025
South Dakota State Bird – Ring-necked Pheasant
South Dakota designated the Ring-necked Pheasant as its official state bird on February 13, 1943. Only three states selected non-native birds as official symbols. Pheasants originally came from Asia. Farmers A.E. Cooper and E.L. Ebbert successfully introduced them to Spink County in 1908. The species brought economic value through hunting and agriculture. Male pheasants displayed striking copper-and-gold plumage. These factors led to the designation.
Why South Dakota Chose This Bird
Pheasant hunting brought thousands of out-of-state hunters into South Dakota each fall. Visitors spent money on lodging, food, guides, and licenses. The bird became central to rural economies by 1943. Representative Paul Kretschmar of Eureka gave a speech to the legislature before lawmakers voted. He praised the pheasant's economic value to the state.
Pheasant populations exploded after the 1908 introduction. State wildlife officials released thousands of birds during the 1910s. South Dakota's population reached 12 million by 1935. The first hunting season opened in Spink County in 1919 for just one day. Game wardens estimated 200 birds harvested from a population of 100,000.
Male pheasants displayed iridescent copper-and-gold plumage. Bright red faces and white neck rings made them stand out in agricultural fields. Females blended into habitat with mottled brown coloring. Males caught attention. South Dakota promoted hunting its official state bird, which reflected practical economic values over symbolic considerations.
Legislative History
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Early Introduction Attempts
Archaeological evidence shows large pheasants lived in southern France 13 million years ago. Greeks knew the bird in the 10th century B.C., and the Greek name was adopted for the species Phasianus ornis. Romans spread pheasants across western Europe. Julius Caesar brought them to England in the first century B.C. The species first appeared in North America in 1733 when several pairs of black-necked strain were introduced in New York.
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Oregon Success and South Dakota Arrival
Owen Nickerson Denny, U.S. Consul General in Shanghai, shipped pheasants to Port Townsend, Washington in 1881. Most died during transport to Portland, Oregon. Denny sent more birds in 1882. His brother John released them in Oregon's Willamette Valley, establishing the first successful North American population. In South Dakota, some claim pheasants arrived in 1898, but breeding pairs weren't established until 1908.
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Official Designation (1943)
The legislature passed the designation on February 13, 1943. Chapter 272 of the 1943 Session Laws made the ring-necked pheasant the official state bird. The timing coincided with pheasant hunting's peak popularity. Movie stars like Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, and Robert Taylor hunted pheasants in South Dakota. Baseball players Ty Cobb, Bob Feller, and Gabby Hartnett also made trips. Railroad executive Lucien Sprague brought an 11-car train from Minneapolis to Leola containing millionaires during hunting season.
What This Bird Represents
Agricultural Economy
Pheasants thrive in farm country. They need grain fields interspersed with grassy cover, brushy areas, and wetland edges. South Dakota's agricultural landscape provided perfect habitat. Farmers appreciated birds that adapted to cropland rather than requiring wilderness. The pheasant represented successful human alteration of the prairie into productive farmland.
Hunting Culture
Redfield calls itself the 'Pheasant Capital of the World.' The first successful stocking and first hunting season both happened in Spink County. Hunting generates massive economic impact. In 2018, South Dakota issued 53,577 resident and 69,018 nonresident pheasant licenses. Hunters harvested an estimated 950,883 birds that year. Economic impact reached $218.1 million. During World War II, Aberdeen operated a pheasant canteen from August 1943 to March 1946, greeting traveling soldiers with pheasant sandwiches.
Depression Era Food Source
Pheasants provided free meat during hard times. The Great Depression made wild game especially valuable to rural families. A three-pound rooster fed a household. The birds reproduced quickly enough that hunting didn't threaten populations. Researchers found it impossible to harvest more than 75 percent of roosters even with intensive hunting. Sport hunters became discouraged before reaching critical mortality points.
Physical Characteristics
Size and Structure
Ring-necked Pheasants measure 21 to 36 inches long, including the tail. Males average 2.75 pounds. Females weigh slightly more than 2 pounds. The body appears round and plump with a small head, long neck, and fairly long legs. Tails grow long and pointed, especially on males. Strong breast muscles deliver bursts of power for escape flights reaching nearly 40 miles per hour.
Male Coloration
Cocks display gaudy plumage. The head shows iridescent dark green or glossy blue with a small crest. Bare red skin surrounds the eyes, swelling during breeding season into brilliant red wattles covering both sides of the head. A crisp white collar rings the neck. Body plumage ranges from rich reddish-brown to copper, mottled with small black spots below and pale spots on the back. The very long tail shows coppery color with thin black bars.
Female and Juvenile Features
Hens wear mottled brown plumage with paler scaling on upperparts. Underparts show buff or cinnamon with black spotting on the sides. Tails display thin black bars but grow shorter than male tails, measuring around 12 inches. This camouflage blends perfectly with field habitat. Juveniles hatch covered in tan down with darker brown streaking. Adult plumage develops by autumn, with young roosters showing full colors and white neck rings at about 18 weeks old.
Behavior and Song
Territorial Displays
Males establish breeding territories in early spring. Roosters claim individual crowing grounds in or near protective cover, defending these areas through March. Each cock regards his territory as private property. He approaches intruders with head and tail erect, sometimes tearing up grass and tossing it. Physical combat escalates through threat displays. Fighting cocks flutter upward breast to breast, biting at wattles and deploying bills, claws, and spurs. Challengers usually run away before fights become fatal.
Crowing and Calls
The territorial call consists of two syllables: a long note followed by a short one, sounding like khaaaa-cack. This crowing attracts hens and warns other males. Six to eight wing claps follow the call, audible from up to a mile away. Males perform loud crowing while briefly drumming with wings from raised perches. When alarmed, pheasants flush with loud cackling and whirring wing sounds.
Courtship and Mating
Cocks court hens with varied displays. They strut in half-circles around females with back and tail feathers tilted toward her, the near wing drooping, face wattles swollen, and neck feathers ruffled. Males pose with heads low while calling hens to food morsels. Females may flee initially, leading males on chases punctuated by courtship displays. One male maintains a harem of up to 12 females. The females associate with each other in small flocks on his territory.
Habitat and Range
Preferred Environments
Ring-necked Pheasants thrive in agricultural landscapes. They need farm fields mixed with grass ditches, hedgerows, marshes, woodland borders, and brushy groves. Nearly all open upland habitat in South Dakota supports pheasants, including rangeland, brush, and field edges. They roost in trees or dense shrubs during spring and summer. Fall and winter roosting shifts to forested wetlands, farm fields, and weedy areas.
Nesting Behavior
Nesting occurs from May through June. Females choose sites usually less than half a mile from their wintering range. Early season nests appear along grassy roadsides, fence lines, ditches, and wetlands. As vegetation grows taller, nesting activity shifts to hay fields, particularly alfalfa. Nests consist of shallow depressions three inches deep, scratched into the ground and lined with grass, weeds, and leaves. Females add breast feathers during incubation.
Egg Laying and Hatching
Hens lay 7 to 14 eggs, averaging 12 in first nests. One egg appears almost every one-and-a-half days. Incubation lasts 21 to 23 days, beginning after the final egg is laid. Only females incubate. Many eggs get destroyed by predators or farm machinery. Disturbed hens often abandon nests but usually attempt renesting with a second clutch. Chicks hatch feathered, mobile, and able to eat. They leave the nest within one or two days.
Interesting Facts
Fact 1 of 8
Ring-necked Pheasants appeared on the U.S. Mint's South Dakota quarter design, one of the few state birds featured on commemorative coins.
Ring-necked Pheasant Songs & Calls
Hear the clear whistles and sharp calls of the Ring-necked Pheasant. These field recordings capture their distinctive voice in natural habitat.
Audio licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Sources & References
This article has been researched using authoritative sources to ensure accuracy and reliability. All information has been fact-checked and verified against official government records and scientific databases.
Official state government page detailing the 1943 adoption and introduction history • Accessed: November 30, 2025
Scientific identification guide with behavior, diet, and breeding information • Accessed: November 30, 2025
Comprehensive species overview including taxonomy, distribution, and conservation status • Accessed: November 30, 2025
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