David Constantine was asking about how to sex a pheasant skeleton.
As far as I know there are only two methods, the spur on the tarsometatarsus (as mentioned by Julie Curl) and the presence of medullary bone. As with chickens presence of a spur does not necessarily suggest male but the chances are it does, while medullary bone means female, absence of medullary bone is male or female. In case you don't know about the latter method, read Driver, J.C. 1982. Medullary bone as an indicator of sex in bird remains from archaeological sites. In B.Wilson, C.Grigson and S.Payne. Ageing and Sexing Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites. BAR British Series 109. 251-254. For this method you will need to either make a hole or break the bone. As you say the skeleton is badly broken, this shouldn't be a problem.
Kevin Rielly
MoLSS
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