The Moose Jaw Wildlife Federation has been raising baby pheasants since they were eggs.  Now they are ready to release them in the Spring Creek area.  Moose Jaw Wildlife Federation's Todd Smith explains they're going to be released any day now.

"Our pheasants will be coming out this week. There should be another couple dozen released along the Spring Creek. The rest of them head as far south as Wood River, others out to the Mortlach River, and others are in and around Moose Jaw."

Smith says they have a lot of birds to release before fall. "We have about 220 pheasants to release over the course of the summer and south Saskatchewan has about 500 that they release over the summer."

The largest hurdle the Pheasants face in the wild is predators like coyote and fox, and the harsh Saskatchewan winter.  Smith hopes some of the birds survive till spring allowing them to breed and add to the bird population.  

The hunting season for upland birds like Pheasant in Saskatchewan is typically from October through December.

Although Pheasants are now considered a native bird to Saskatchewan, the breed originated in Asia, and was introduced to North America in the early 1880's.  Males are brightly colored, while females are various shades of brown.