I saw this pheasant fly up to the trees and he is smart to get up off the frozen snow, but he probably is wishing he would have migrated south this winter as it has been a long, snowy, cold one. Ring-necked Pheasants sometimes cope with extreme cold by simply remaining dormant for days at a time.
The powerful breast muscles deliver bursts of power that allow the birds to escape trouble in a hurry, flushing nearly vertically into the air and reaching speeds of nearly 40 miles per hour.
Ring-necked Pheasant
