What Do Pheasants Eat?

Pheasants are large game birds from the family Phasianidae It also includes turkeys, chickens, quail and other land birds. There are about 50 unusual species of pheasant found in most parts of the world, and many more subspecies.

Pheasants spend most of their time on the ground and can often be seen foraging in fields and bushes. So what do pheasants eat?

All species of pheasants are omnivores, feeding almost exclusively on food foraged from the ground. Their diet is flexible, but most pheasants eat berries, seeds, nuts, grains, twigs and roots, as well as many types of worms, insects and arthropods. Some pheasants also prey on small animals such as rodents and small lizards.

Common pheasant foraging on a newly plowed field

The typical diet of pheasants varies throughout the year, and they tend to eat a higher percentage of insects and meat in the summer and a higher percentage of seeds and plants in the winter when there are fewer insects.

Pheasants are diverse and hardy birds found in regions ranging from the Himalayas to the rainforests of South America. So their diet does vary from region to region, but all pheasants are relatively flexible omnivores, eating both plant matter and meat in the form of insects and small animals.

Read on to learn more about the diet and feeding habits of this wonderful bird!

What do pheasants eat in the wild?

There are more than 50 species of pheasant and many more subspecies. The most common pheasant is the common pheasant, also known as the ring-necked pheasant, found in much of Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

The diet of the common pheasant is omnivorous and includes plant matter such as fruits, seeds, masts, roots, berries, and grains, as well as ants, leather jackets, grubs and larvae, caterpillars, worms, grasshoppers, spiders, and many other forms of meat arthropods.

Close-up of a male ring-necked pheasant

Pheasants also eat small animals such as lizards, small birds, and rodents, including mice, rats, voles, and shrews.

Other species of pheasants have a similar omnivorous diet to the common pheasant, regardless of the region they come from:

• The golden pheasant, which inhabits most of Asia and the Americas, feeds on plants and insects.
• The emperor’s pheasant in Taiwan feeds on plants and insects.
• Green pheasants mainly feed on plants and insects.
• Chinese and Tibetan pheasants feed on ground-foraging roots, twigs, and insects.

What do pheasants eat in summer?

Insects are abundant throughout the summer, and pheasants, like many other birds and animals, hope to take advantage of their increased numbers.

In summer, pheasants consume more insects in the form of larvae, grasshoppers, worms, spiders, and just about anything else they can get their beaks to bite.

A pheasant’s diet is not limited to insects and plants. They’re actually pretty good at hunting small animals like snakes and rodents, stalking them quietly before ambushing them with their long necks. In fact, in the United Kingdom, pheasants pose a serious threat to the local chiffon snake population.

Pheasant pecking at insects from fallen log

What do pheasants eat in winter?

With less insect and animal life in winter, pheasants switch to a diet rich in seeds, grains, nuts and plants. Pheasants spend most of their day foraging under leaves and vegetation, looking for insects or other high-fat, high-protein foods.

Male and female pheasants foraging in winter

What do captive pheasants eat?

Pheasants raised as game birds are fed a game bird feed that contains about 24 – 28% protein. Young growing pheasants require about 0.9 kg (2 lb) of feed per day, which decreases to about 0.4 kg (1 lb) when they are fully grown.

How do pheasants find food?

Pheasants are ground-dwelling birds that spend little time flying or perching in trees. They feed entirely from the ground, walking through the undergrowth while pecking and picking vegetation.

Pheasants forage in fields and meadows, meadows, woodlands and thickets or bushes.

Female pheasant (hen), foraging from the ground

How often do pheasants eat?

Pheasants consume more food during the breeding season or when growing into active juveniles. When food is not particularly plentiful, pheasants may spend most of their time foraging in bushes.

What do little pheasants eat?

Young pheasants are not usually fed by their parents like other birds. After hatching, the hatchlings eat and absorb what’s left of the yolk sac, keeping them alive until they are able to walk.

Once they can stand, young pheasants follow their mother for most of their early days, imitating her technique of foraging food from the local area.

In general, young pheasants in the wild mainly eat soft insects such as grubs, larvae and caterpillars – this is likely because they grow up to digest harder food.

Close up of a pheasant chick

How do you attract pheasants?

Pheasants are generally nervous and stealthy birds that avoid human contact, but they do roam into human settlements in search of food. Where pheasants are locally available, they can be attracted with a variety of bird feeds, including common bird mixes and dried mealworms.

Remember that pheasants feed on the ground, so they cannot forage at bird feeders or tables. Be aware that once they’ve finished eating what you’ve prepared for them, they may go on to eat the plants in your garden!

Providing fresh water also helps attract pheasants and other wild birds.

Should I be feeding wild pheasants?

As long as you feed wild pheasants appropriately, there is no reason not to feed them.

Wild pheasants may appreciate the addition of nutrients to their daily diets during the cold winter months.

Pheasants eat bird seeds from homemade feeders

What do you feed pheasants?

Wild pheasants can be fed a variety of seeds, grains, green leafy vegetables and dried insects such as mealworms.

Here are some foods that wild pheasants depend on:

• whole grains
• Sunflower, weed mat, millet, safflower and other seeds
• acorns and nuts
• buckwheat and barley
• leafy greens and vegetables, such as cabbage and spinach
• Mealworms

What things can’t be fed to pheasants?

Pheasants are flexible eaters, but some ground rules apply. Never feed moldy bread or other spoiled food to pheasants (or other animals). Also avoid foods high in sugar or salt, and foods that pose a choking hazard, such as bones.

Bread isn’t ideal either – while it’s not dangerous to birds, it’s more importantly very poor in nutrients.

Female pheasant eats mixed seeds from a feeder

What do pheasants drink?

Pheasants only drink water, and water is all they need. Pheasants are relatively large birds that require a lot of water in hot weather.

What do pheasants eat?

Pheasants are slow-moving, ground-dwelling birds, which makes them fairly vulnerable to a range of predators. While adult pheasants are very large—too big for many smaller predators to target—they can still be attacked by foxes, raccoons, badgers, and larger birds of prey such as eagles and some hawks.

Young pheasants predated many more animals, including skunks, minks, weasels, ferrets, snakes and other lizards as well as birds such as hawks, crows and owls.

We’re missing a big guy here though, as the biggest consumers of pheasants are humans! While pheasant is not as popular as it used to be, it is still widely eaten around the world, with millions of pheasants bred and shot each year as game birds.

Pheasant in flight

Pheasant Diet FAQs

What do pheasants eat in the garden?

Pheasants eat a wide range of traditional bird foods, including bird mix seeds, suet, fat balls and mealworms. They’ll also eat grass or above-ground roots, shoots and insects – they’ll rummage through your flower beds to find them!

What time of day are pheasants most active?

Pheasants tend to hide during the day and forage in the early morning, dusk or evening. However, you can see pheasants almost any time of day or night.

Do pheasants eat bread?

Yes, but eating too much bread is bad for all birds. Bread is nutritionally incomplete and very filling — it doesn’t give birds what they need to survive and thrive. If you feed your birds bread, make sure it’s whole grain or seed bread and don’t overeat it.

Male and female ring-necked pheasants feeding from the ground

Do pheasants eat fruit?

Pheasants eat berries, especially those that are readily available from the ground.

Do pheasants eat raisins?

Yes, it is said that pheasants really like raisins and raisins.

Do pheasants eat ticks?

Pheasants, not known for eating ticks, may actually carry the bacteria associated with Lyme disease.

Do pheasants eat mice?

Given the slightest chance, pheasants would eat mice—they’re omnivores, after all. Pheasants also eat other rodents such as voles and shrews.

male pheasant call

Do pheasants eat slugs?

There is little evidence that pheasants eat slugs or molluscs. Instead, they prefer insects and worms.

Do pheasants eat meat?

Pheasants are omnivores, so they eat meat and plants. Pheasants eat their meat in the form of insects, worms and small animals such as lizards and rodents.

Do pheasants eat peanuts?

Pheasants do eat peanuts, and they are said to really like them. Pet pheasants are often fed peanuts and other nuts and seeds.