%i Ac® 7 
MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
T<- G* Scott, Editor 
Urbana, Illinois .July, 1953 VoK 6, No. 7 
1. Pheasa nt Populatio ns and Land Use J. E. Warncck 
The number of pheasant broods ( 63 ) observed along 320 miles of standardized 
roadside routes on the Sibley area during July, 1963* was 12.5 percent less than 
the number of broods (72) recorded for the same number of miles during July, 1962. 
In July of 1959* I960, and 1961, comparable counts of 52, 82, and 83 broods were 
recorded, respectively. The mean age of the broods observed was 4.6 weeks in 
1962 , and 3.9 weeks in 1963 , which tentatively suggests a slightly later hatch of 
chicks in 1963 • 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
Three searches of manipulated and control roadside plots on the Sibley study 
area were made for pheasant nests during the summer of 1 963 (May 23-June 5* July 
1-4, July 27-August 1). Nearly equal numbers of pheasant nests were established 
on manipulated and control plots, 45 and 43 nests, respectively (Table 1). How¬ 
ever, hatching success on seeded plots was more than double that on control plots. 
Seventeen of 45 nests (37*8 percent) established on seeded plots had hatched by 
August 3* whereas only 7 of 43 nests (16.3 percent) of nests established on con¬ 
trol plots had hatched by the same date. A single nest is still active on each of 
the two types of plots. Thus, the 15-1 acres of seeded plots have produced 1.13 
hatched nests per acre compared to 0.47 hatched nests per acre on the 15*0 acres 
of control plots. 
Table 1. Status of nests on manipulated and control roadside plots along 7 
miles of roadway, Sibley area, August 3* 1963* 
Number of Nests 
Pheasant Nests 
Seeded Plots 
Control Plots 
Active 
1 
1 
Hatched 
17 
7 
Abandoned and/or destroyed 
27 
35 
Total 
45 
43 
Hatched nests per acre 
1.13 
0.47 
NOV 2 1««) 
