MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Illinois Federal Aid Project W- 66 -R 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, 
Glen C. Sanderson and Eva Steger, Editors 
HISWRV SURVEY 
NOV 1 4 1979 
library 
Cooperating 
Urbana, Illinois 
October, 1979 
Vol. 22, No. 10 
Manipulatio n of Pheasant Habitat 
—-- r. e # Earner 
1Q7Q May COck :- ca] } censuses indicated that the numbers of breeding pheasants in 
? e C °rr d A Wlth , ? ? ? W6re stab,e on the Ford County Management^! t (FCMU) 
Sibley Study Area (SSA), and Harwood area; declined on the Anchor area- and * 
increased on Prairie Green {MWRL 22(6):]). ’ d 
tive Iear hat p^ SUCCefS C " the / CMU 5n ] 979 exceeded 50% for the second consecu- 
tive year. Previous nest studies snow that an average of about one-third nf a n 
established pheasant nests hatch in a typical breeding seasoT ° f a " 
Broods were censused on the 5 study areas in August 1979 with the assistant 
of personnel from the Department of Conservation. More broods were counted pe? 
Green'lreas hTi" 3 1979 ^ In 1978 ° n the SSA > F ™U, Harwood, and Prairie 
Green areas, but fewer were counted on the Anchor area (Table 1). 
recenI h vears ra9 This 0 ?^ °Y he Fn Au 3 ust 1979 appeared greater than in 
recent years. This larger number of chicks per hen may be primarily a function 
of improved saty.vai; clutch site did net appear to begrea«r thanaverage !n 
attributed „ ! survival of chicks through mid-August in 1979 may be 9 
east-central"ntHols. r-record —'ties of grasshoppers and oth.? insects In 
The 1979 census data suggest that pheasant 
may be recovering from the wide-spread mortality 
of 1977-78. Hunter harvest data to be collected 
1979 upland game season should show a relatively 
recruited into the fall population and a slight 
hunters per cock harvested. 
populations on the study areas 
of January 1977 and the winter 
for the opening weekend of the 
large number of juveniles 
decline in time expended by 
Table 1. Broods observed per 
east-central Illinois. 
IOC mPes of driving in August on 
5 study areas in 
Year 
SSA FCMU 
Anchor Harwood 
P ra i r i e G reen 
1977 
2-3 26.9 
5»2 7.o 
5-7 
1978 
1-0 0.6 
2-0 4.3 
2.5 
1979 
2-9 4.4 
0-7 7.5 
3.9 
