Movements of female pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) between different territorial males during April.

Abstract

The extent to which female pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) move between territorial males during the main mating period in April was assessed using two methods: repeated observations of individually marked females on three areas over four years, and radio-telemetry of 27 females on one area in one year. The former method estimated that females spent on average. 87.5% of their time with one male. 9.8% with a second and the remainder with a third or fourth male. The radio-telemetry found 92.6% of females remaining with one male throughout April. For both methods the maximum number of males with which a female associated was four. These figures reflect time spent with different males, not the frequency of mating so do not necessarily reflect the proportion of the females' offspring fathered by different males. The estimates may be used to correct censuses based on estimating the harem sizes of individual territorial males.