By: Sally Siko

North Carolina is home to hundreds of species of amazing birds but few match the stunning beauty of the Ring necked Pheasant.
These rare gems are truly a spectacular sight to behold, especially when engaged in a courtship display as seen in this series of photos that I captured at Sylvan Heights in Scotland Neck, NC.

Ring necked Pheasants were introduced into NC from Asia around 100 years ago.
Though they were once a (relatively) common sight in the fields of our coastal areas, today that is not the case.
Unfortunately due to predation and habit loss, they are a scarce find with only very small population of these birds residing on a small strip of land of the Core Banks and Portsmouth Island within the Cape Lookout National Seashore.

If you’re up to undergo a search for the Ring necked Pheasant, look for them feeding in open grasslands containing scrubby thicket areas.

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa #5ds