I 
MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Illinois Federal Aid Project W-66-R 
H fflmi BSIWI91*® 
OCT 1 0 1979 
Lt»W* v 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Eva Steger, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
September, 1979 
Vol. 22, No. 9 
Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat R. E. Warner 
Land use on the Sibley Study Area (SSA) and Ford County Management Unit 
(FCMU) was monitored in 1979^ as in previous years, by mapping the crops and 
vegetative cover on fields and field boundaries. The trend on these 2 study 
areas since l 962 has been toward fewer acres planted in tame hay and small grains 
and more acres planted in row crops (soybeans and corn). On the SSA, tame hay 
was planted on 1 . 2 % of the land (266 acres) in 1979 , compared with 1 . 6 % in 1978 , 
J.2% in 1977, and an average of 7*0% per year during 1962 - 69 . Small grains were 
planted on 0.9% of the SSA (207 acres) in 1979, 0.9% in 1978, 1.4% in 1977, and 
an average of 8 . 3 % per year during 1962 - 69 * Row crops were planted on 90.6% of 
the SSA in 1979, 85*9% in 1978, 91*2% in 1977, and an average of 76 . 8 % per year 
during 1962-69* 
Trends in land use on the FCMU in 1979 were similar to those on the SSA. 
This year (1979) 0.9% of the FCMU (119 acres) was planted in tame hay, compared 
with 0.3% in 1978, and 1.0% in 1977 - 
In 1979, pheasant nests were studied on the FCMU for the 7th consecutive 
year. Densities of hatched nests in seeded roadside vegetation averaged 0.09 
per acre in 1 979, compared with I. 30 , 1 . 23 , 0 . 27 , 0.48, 0 . 17 , and 0.12 per acre 
in 1973-78, respectively. An estimated average of 1.1 nests per square mile 
hatched in nonrow-crop cover on the FCMU in 1979; estimated averages for 1973-78 
were 26.3, 16*5, 8.0, 8.0, 2.2, and 1.3, respectively. In 1979, approximately 
64% of all successful pheasant nests on the FCMU occurred in managed roadsides. 
In the 7 years of nest searches on the FCMU, 52% of all hatched nests were found 
in managed roadside vegetation. 
Next month's newsletter will consider reproduction success and the relative 
abundance of pheasant broods on study areas in east-central Illinois. 
Ecology and Management of Squirrels C. M. Nixon, 
L. P. Hansen 
This is the last of 3 reports on the effects of selection cutting (removal 
of single trees or small groups of trees from forests) on squirrels. Studies 
were conducted on 3 areas: Massac, 44 acres; Old Barn, 34 acres; and Cole, 39 
acres. In the earlier reports we discussed the effects of selection cutting 
on squirrel densities, survival, and breeding rates (no significant effect) 
(MWRL 22(7):2), and on the availability of shelter (tree cavities and leaf nests) 
and food for squirrels (MWRL 22(8):l-3). 
