VoI. 20, No. 9 
Page 2 
in nest establishment amona the , . , 
established and 0.12 hatched nest^er acre'were Avera 9 es ° f °' 21 * 
Of roadside searched in 1977 . Seven of the 14 fen* rm,ned for the 57.7 acres 
on the FCGR plots were successful The Jl 4 (5 ? Percent) nests established 
FCGR in 1977 compared with 1976 is a resu 1 1 ^f ° r’ est,n 9 on the FCMU and 
Population of breeding hens ZT y 
end t^th^^Ihirl^ 5 ^^!- 9rOUt6S the «A, 
reflect the sparse populations censused on iheL recent| y been ™ d e also 
(MWRL 20 ( 7 ) :| - 2 ) . On'the basis o? the August gyr ^ 5 Sprin 9 1977 
there have been reductions of 70 .0 6 ;, 9 f CenSUS of broods (Table 3 ), 
976 in the numbers of broods obsirved'per loS'mile^^ r es P e « ively, from 
townships of Prairie Green • n per 100 miles of driving in the 
and Anchor (McLean County). On th^SSA^hl ’ Harwood (Champaign County), 
100 miles of driving in August 197? dn / "V* 2 ' 3 broods observed per 
17.1 in 1974, and 35-0 in 1973. 0n theTcMO^ g\ " \ 97& ’ 3 °' ' in l976 ’ 
counted in August 1977, an 8.5 percent reH ^- 26 '? br °° ds per 100 mi les were 
(Table 3 ). The actual decline 1 fu" fr ° m the Preceding year 
August 1977 with August I 976 is orobahl " 5 ° f pheasants on the FCMU, comparing 
decline in the brood census and less thin ^ 8 ‘ 5 percent 
numbers of hatched nests recorded in ™ th 72 ' 8 percent decline in the 
findings from the I 977 breeding season°wi ITbe^ COver - . > m Pl ications of the 
newsletter. 9 season will be discussed in next month's 
Table I. Pheasant nests hatched per acre in non ™ 
1973-77. non-row crop cover on the FCMU, 
Cover 
1973 
1974 
Roadsides 
Strip & nonagricu1tural 
Hay 
Pasture 
Small grains 
1.30 
0.24 
0.48 
0.34 
0.08 
1.23 
0 . 14 
0.33 
0 + 
0.03 
1975 
O.27 
0.17 
0.02 
0 + 
0.06 
1976 
0.48 
0.06 
0 . 10 
0 + 
0.09 
1977 
0.17 
0.03 
0.02 
0+ 
0 + 
Table 2 . Pheasant nests hatched per 
FCMU, 1973-771 
section in non-row crop 
cover on 
the 
Cover 
1973 
] 974 1975 
1976 
1977 
Roadsides ^ 
Strip £. nonagricultural 7.4 
Hay r r 
9.7 77 ] 
^•2 4.6 
3.8 
1.6 
1-3 
0.7 
5-5 
2 ’° 0.2 
1.0 
0.2 
