Tina Thwaite feeding Phil the pheasant in her garden

by Thom Morris

Phil the pheasant is so tame that he'll eat from your hand and even comes to the back door for breakfast.

Mum-of-one Tina Thwaite says Phil turns up most mornings at her home in Challock for a bite to eat.

Over the last few weeks he has learnt to peck his food from her hand and chirp to get her attention.

Tina, of Canterbury Road, said: “This all started a couple of weeks ago because we have some doves here and their food was falling to the floor.

"There was one pheasant, Phil, who was very tame and didn’t run away. He started coming to the back door and coming closer and closer so I put my hand out with some food; he didn’t go up to it at first but you could tell he wanted to.

"I put my hand down on the floor and he ate out of my hand and each time I raised it a little bit more to this point where he comes up to the back door and makes a ‘per-per’ sound.

"if he doesn’t appear i think a fox might have got him or he’s been hit by a car…” – tina thwaite

“I hang my arm out and he eats straight from my hand. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Tina, who used to be PA to Michael Crawford and Jason Donovan’s dresser when they appeared in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, has four chickens, a dove cote, two kittens called Maximus and Biscuit, two Yorkshire terriers called Cherry and Freddy and a border collie called Ash.

The pheasant was first introduced in the UK by the Normans in the 11th century as a game bird.

The animals forage on the ground and typically enjoy a diet of seeds, berries, insects, worms and grass.

Now working in graduate recruitment, Tina, who also worked with stars including Philip Schofield and Michael Ball, added: “I do worry about him now.

“If he doesn’t appear I think a fox might have got him or he’s been hit by a car. They’re such beautiful looking animals and their colouring is amazing, they’re really lovely birds.”

Do you have any regular feathered visitors to your garden? Let us know by leaving a comment below.