Back in Wisconsin, this was the time of year I noticed pheasants. Oh, I suppose they were always around, but late August, when the oats had been harvested, is when I'd see the roosters, strutting through stubble fields, gleaning spilled grain. Strikingly handsome, red-wattled face on iridescent green, feather-eared head. White-ringed neck, ruddy breast, complex tapestry of patterned feathers across the back and wings. And of course those long, barred tail-feathers, seemingly snatched from Robin Hood's cap.
I knew, of course, that they weren't native, but introduced from China, but I didn't realize until I moved out to Oregon that they were first introduced here.
You see, the U.S. consul general to China in 1880 was Oregonian Owen Denny. After three years in Tientsin, he and wife Gertrude moved to Shanghai, where they first encountered the birds. He wrote to a friend, "These birds are delicious eating and very game and will furnish fine sport." He decided to bring them to Oregon.
The first batch of 60 birds arrived by sea at Port Townsend, Washington, March 13, 1881. Although they'd traveled well in the dark, quiet ship's hold, the rattling, splashing train and boat journey proved too stressful for the birds, who beat themselves against their cages. The few survivors were released on Sauvie Island in the Columbia River, near Portland. In 1882, the Dennys tried again, this time shipping the birds directly to Portland. Owen's brother John released them near the family's Willamette Vally homestead in Linn County, and within a year, they'd spread to surrounding counties.
After that, ringneck pheasants were introduced across the country, many descendants of the original Oregon and Washington stock. At least 19 states have sizable populations, and South Dakota has made it their state bird.
So it's well past time that I reintroduced the ringneck pheasant to my Oregon-made pottery. I'm painting them on pie plates, pasta bowls, tall mugs and casseroles and pitchers.
Outstanding in their field.