ABUNDANCE OF PHEASANTS 

 1957.68 



COUNTY RANK 



MEAN NUMBER OF PHEASANTS 



PER 100 MILES 



Fig. 14. — Abundance v-, 

 of pheasants in Illinois by 

 counties. Counties are 

 ranked in order of abun- 

 dance of pheasants. Data 

 were obtained from six rural 

 mail carrier censuses con- 

 ducted in 1957 and 1958. 



INDICES OF PHEASANT 

 ABUNDANCE 

 1957-1960 



Q-LOCATION OF CENSUS ROUTE 



Key (Eiomple: Chompolgn Counly) 

 16= 1957 

 38. 1958 

 34= 1969 

 20= I960 



Fig. 15. — Distribution 

 and abundance of pheasants 

 in selected Illinois census 

 areas as indicated by popu- 

 lation indices based on win- 

 ter sex ratios and spring 

 counts of cock calls, 1957- 

 1960 (after William L. 

 Preno unpublished). Index 

 numbers for each census 

 area read from top to bot- 

 tom, 1957 through 1960. 



County and adjacent portions of Ford County. Detailed 

 ecological studies on a township-sized study area in this 

 region indicated that pheasants numbered 63, 80, and 

 88 birds per square mile in January, 1957 and 1958, 

 and February, 1960, respectively. Pheasants declined in 

 numbers in all directions from the nucleus of abundance 

 in Ford and Livingston counties; this decline was most 

 apparent to the southwest. 



The rural mail carrier counts showed some po]jula- 

 tions of pheasants, usually of low levels, outside the 

 boundaries of the contiguous range, fig. 8. Some of 

 these outlying populations have persisted for many years. 

 One such population, greater in numbers and more per- 

 sistent than other outlying populations, is located in 

 Logan and Tazewell counties. A small population of 

 pheasants has existed in Bond County, about 40 miles 

 east of St. Louis, for many years, and most of the 

 township distribution maps in this report indicate the 

 presence of an isolated population of pheasants where 

 Hancock, Henderson, McDonough, and Warren coun- 

 ties in western Illinois come into close pro.ximity. 'I'he 

 extent to which these small, persistent populations arc 

 maintained through periodic releases of pheasants by 

 private individuals or agencies is not known. Some ol 

 the pheasants observed by rural mail carriers in Cum- 

 berland, and probably all of the pheasants reported in 

 Edwards and Wabash counties, which are south of the 

 contiguous range currently occupied by pheasants in 



MEAN NUMBER 

 OF COCKS KILLED 

 PER SQUARE MILE 

 1957-1959 



^■1 610-100 



61 0-60.0 



410-60,0 



210-400 



10-20 



LESS THAN 



OR NONE 



Fig. 16. — Distribution I 

 and abundance of pheasants 

 in Illinois as mapped from 

 data obtained from post- 

 hunting season question- 

 Mains distributed to hunters 

 during the 1957, 1958, and 

 1959 hunting seasons (aft'T 

 William L. Preno unpub- 

 lished). 



15 



