The diet is broad, incorporating seeds, roots, berries, leaves, and insects (4). Males mate with more than one female; females undertake the duties of nesting and rearing chicks alone (4). During late April, between 7 and 15 eggs are laid in a grass-lined hollow on the ground (4). The chicks hatch between 23 and 27 days later, and become independent after 12-14 days (4). Pheasants roost in trees (2), and form flocks in winter when feeding, in which hierarchies develop amongst the females (5)