AN EXOTIC visitor brightened up a Torquay garden when it popped into town.

Brian Piller photographed the bird on Sunday morning in his garden in Watcombe, Torquay.

It is a male Lady Amherst's pheasant which is likely to be an escapee from a private collection as Paignton Zoo has none.

Mr Piller said: "Its body was about the size of a magpie but the tail feathers were brightly coloured.

"It seemed to be quite tame but I would imagine that it would be vulnerable to any passing cat or hawk from Brunel Woods nearby."

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says the Lady Amherst's pheasant is a very secretive bird which runs rather than flies, and the male is very colourful with an extremely long black and white tail.

It is a Chinese species which survives in the UK in small numbers around Bedfordshire where it was introduced.

Two years ago a male bird was snapped at Meadfoot Beach, Torquay.