MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
September, 1964 
Vol. 7, No. 9 
1. Pheasant Populations and Land Use J. E. Warnock, S. L. Etter 
In 1964, as in the previous 7 years (1957-63), nesting data were collected 
by searching the northwest one-quarter (10 acres) of 100 randomly selected 40-acre 
plots for pheasant nests; this 1,000-acre sample represented 4.3 percent of the 
23,200-acre study area. In 1964, 248 nests were located and 29(11-7 percent) of 
these hatched. These data reveal a 45-3 percent decrease from the number of 
established nests (453) and a 64.2 percent decrease from the number of successful 
nests (81) found on the 1,000-acre sample during 1963- 
Four pheasant nests were found in 50 acres of soybeans in 1964, compared with 
5 nests found in 50 acres of soybeans searched in 1963- Three of the five nests 
found in soybeans in 1963 were successful; none of the 4 found in 1964 were success 
ful. However, one successful nest was observed in soybeans in 1964, beyond the 
boundaries of the 100, 10-acre plots, and several reliable reports from farmers 
indicate that some successful pheasant nests did occur in soybeans in 1964 on the 
study area. We believe that many of the unusually young pheasants observed in 
August 1964 (See Monthly Wildlife Research Letter, August, 1964) may have come 
from successful nests situated in fields of soybeans. 
2. Manipu1 at ion of Pheasant Hab i tat G- B. Joselyn 
The practicality of seeding grass-legume mixtures on roadsides throughout a 
large area (township or county) to improve nesting cover for pheasants depends 
upon three important considerations: (l) it must be established that pheasant 
nest densities and nest success will be substantially higher on the seeded road¬ 
sides than on unseeded roadsides; (2) methods must be devised to insure good 
quality stands of grasses and legumes at the initial seeding which, by eliminating 
most weeds, will make mature seedings acceptable to farmers and road maintenance 
personnel; and (3) a method of seeding must be developed which makes it feasible 
to manipulate large acreages with a minimum of time and expenditures. 
When the initial 7 miles of study plots were established on the Sibley Study 
Area during the spring of 1962, the planting procedure included plowing, disking, 
and harrowing, followed by hand-seeding with a cyclone seeder. This method was 
time consuming and costly, and success in establishing good stands of grasses and 
legumes varied greatly. Based on criteria for measuring the establishment of 
stands of seeded grasses and legumes, approximately 3 of the 7 miles of manipulated 
roadsides planted in 1 96 2 could be classified only as fair to poor pheasant nest¬ 
ing habitat the following summer (1963)- Significant weed problems prevailed on 
NATURAL ' ii SURVEY 
OCT 16 19B4 
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