fyfUcMxfl Qame Qitd Section 



Qasne lit/id Survey 



Because there has been a pressing need for 

 detailed information pertaining to Montana upland 

 game birds, the Fish and Game Department was 

 anxious that a state wide survey be undertaken in 

 order to determine the relative abundance of the 

 various species throughout the state. Pertinent 

 facts about life histories of our game birds were 

 to be uncovered in order to facilitate sound man- 

 agement of these species. 



The study was instigated in June, 1941, and 

 a systematic coverage of the eastern Montana 

 counties was undertaken. A leader and six crew 

 men were assigned to the study. Each crew spent 

 several days in a county in obtaining information 

 from all available sources on the distribution and 

 abundance of the various birds. At the end of 

 the summer most of the eastern and central Mon- 

 tana counties had been studied. The results of 

 the summer's work were compiled and organized 

 during the winter months. Maps were prepared 

 showing the range of each species in each coun- 

 ty. Birds were classified as being (1) common to 

 abundant, or (2) uncommon to rare. By talking 

 with informed residents of the regions informa- 

 tion was gathered on population trends. 



The summer season of 1942 saw the neces- 

 sity of completing the county by county survey. 

 Also it was thought reasonable to go back for 

 more intensive study into some of the areas shown 

 by the previous summer to be of particular inter- 

 est. In addition to obtaining specific information 

 on the habitat preferences of the birds, a great 

 deal of further information was recorded. An ex- 

 ample of the method of recording information is 

 given in figure 1. Areas were studied intensively 

 in Sheridan, Fallon, Garfield, Toole and Meagher 

 counties, and less intensive studies were made in 

 Carter, Glacier, and Phillips counties. The re- 

 sults will be discussed under each species. 



In the nine remaining counties in western 

 Montana grouse were to be studied. Most of the 



areas of good grouse habitat lie within the Na- 

 tional Forest in these regions. At least 100 miles 

 per county, and usually much more than that, 

 were covered by foot over forest trails in order 

 to obtain the desired information on the abun- 

 dance of grouse. 



Detailed records of all observations were 

 kept by the crew members. The specific results 

 of our studies on the grouse will be discussed un- 

 der the individual species. 



SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 

 (Pediocetes phasianellus) 



This grouse is also called the Pintail Grouse 

 and, erroneously, the Prairie Chicken. Figure 2 

 indicates the range and the relative abundance of 

 the sharptail in Montana. Two rather distinct 

 habitats are occupied by this bird in eastern and 

 central Montana. Over the major portion of the 

 range the vegetative formation of the habitat is 

 comprised of wheat fields, both growing wheat 

 and the previous year's stubble, grassland, and 

 more or less extensive areas of shrubby cover 

 including choke cherry, snowberry, rose, and sage. 

 Intensively cultivated areas sown chiefly to wheat 

 do not support sharptails in any numbers. The 

 most abundant populations occur where only a 

 half section or less is sown to wheat, the re- 

 mainder supporting native vegetation. 



A restricted area in extreme northeastern 

 Montana shows the second type of habitat. This 

 region, approximately 22 sections of land in Sheri- 

 dan county, is characterized by low rolling sand- 

 hills. A more dense population of grouse was 

 found here than in any other area studied. The 

 central portion of this area is entirely devoid of 

 grain and supports only grasses, shrubs, and 

 weeds. Snowberry, wild rose, and chokecherry 

 were the most important shrubby species. The 

 patches of brush, often over 100 feet in diameter, 

 were scattered throughout the area with areas 



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