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MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Thomas G. Scott, Editor 
Urbana, Illinois 
July, 1962 
Vo 1. 5, No. 7 
1. Pheasant Populations and Land Use J. E. Warnock, G. B. Joselyn 
The number of pheasant broods (72) observed along 320 miles of standardized 
roadside routes on the Sibley area during July, 1962, was 13*3 percent less than 
the number of broods ( 83 ) recorded during July, 1961 ; in July of 1959 and I960, 
comparable counts of 52 and 82 broods were recorded, respectively. The mean age of 
the broods observed was 5»3 weeks in 1961, and 4.6 weeks in 1962, which tentatively 
suggests a slightly later hatch of chicks in 1 962 . 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat D. E. Newman 
Pheasants established more nests along roadsides which were older ecologically 
than along recently graded roadsides. Thus far in 1962 (July 30), pheasants estab¬ 
lished 2.6 nests per mile along miles of roadside that has not been disturbed 
for 2 or more years; the density of nests in this roadside cover was about 2 per 
acre. In contrast, only 0.7 nests per mile were established by pheasants along 1^ 
miles of roadsides graded within the past year. (These data do not include the 
experimental roadsides which were manipulated and seeded to grasses and legumes 
this past spring.) The older roadsides are commonly dominated by grasses whereas 
the recently graded (but not seeded) roadsides were characterized by denuded areas 
and annual weeds. However, it is most probable that recently graded roadsides, if 
seeded to grasses and legumes, would provide suitable nesting cover for pheasants 
sooner than if the roadsides were allowed to revert to grass vegetation naturally. 
3. Factors Influencing Pistribution and Abundance of Pheasants 
W. L. Anderson, J. A. Harper 
Analyses of soil and grit samples collected from the Neoga study area, which 
is south of the contiguous range occupied by pheasants in Illinois, and the Sibley 
area, which is in the heart of the occupied range, have revealed that calcite(grit 
containing high amounts of calcium carbonate) is equally available to pheasants on 
both areas (see Monthly Wildlife Research Letters, Vol. 4, Nos. 9 6- 10). Further, 
analyses were conducted this month to determine the percentages of calcium present 
in the calcite contained in road gravel, field gravel, and grit from gizzards of 
hens (during May and June) collected on the Neoga and Sibley areas, Table 1. 
These results strongly indicate that pheasant hens are capable of selecting 
high quality calcareous grit on both areas. The equal amounts of calcium in the 
calcareous grit in the gizzards of hens during the nesting season also suggests 
that sufficient calcium is present on the Neoga study area for successful reproduc- 
| tion. These data strongly suggest that a deficiency of calcium is not a major 
OCT 11 19 R 9 
NATURAL 
HISTORY SURVFY 
