MONTHLY 171 LDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Illinois Federal Aid Projects \h 66 -R, W-87-R, and W-38-R 
> 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Eva Steger, Editors 
Champaign, Illinois 
January, 1982 
Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat - W- 66 -R 
R. E. Warner 
The use of chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides in Illinois agriculture 
greatly expanded from the late 1950's through the late 1360's. Expanded use of 
these environmentally persistent compounds corresponded with the period in which 
a decline in the survival of pheasant chicks was most apparent. 
In 1976 j- 77 we collected 20 pheasant chicks from different broods in Ford 
and Livingston counties to determine the presence of metabolites from chlorinated 
hydrocarbon insecticides. The INKS Wildlife Pesticides lab monitored concen¬ 
trations of p,p' - and o,p' -DDE (metabolites of DDT), dieldrin (metabolite of 
aldrin), and heptachlor epoxide (metabolite of heptachlor). DDT was curtailed 
for agricultural use in the mid- 1950 's, aldrin and heptachlor were used 
extensively through the early 1970 's and were curtailed in 1978 . 
Research in east-central Illinois and elsewhere in the Midwest indicates 
that the reproduction and survival of pheasants may be impaired by the ingestion 
of dieldrin. 'PFveasant chlcka are potentially exposed to dieldrin and similar 
metabolites in the embryonic stage, and by ingestion of insects and soils 
beginning immediately after hatching. 
Table 1 shows the mean metabolite concentrations of aldrin, DDT, and 
heptachlor for pheasant chicks collected in 1376-77. Compared with a similar 
sample of pheasant chicks collected from the same region in 1363 (W.L. Anderson 
et al. 1970. 111. State Acad. Sci. 63 :373~36>2), concentrations of metabolites 
in 1976-77 appeared much lower for £,£* -DDE, slightly lower for dieldrin, and 
similai to-slightly-lower for heptachlor epoxide. However, the upper ranges 
of some of the metabolite concentrations found in 1376-77 were similar to those 
documented in l 368 . Some of the higher concentration values detected in 1976-77 
could potentially limit reproduction and survival if the inferences made from 
previous benchmark studies of survival are correct. 
Vfhether the widespread application of chlorinated hydrocarbons is or is 
not related to a decline in the survival of pheasant chicks will best be tested 
in the future. Because aldrin and heptachlor have not been used since 1373, 
concentrations of their metabolites in the environment are diminishing. For 
example, concentrations of dieldrin in the soil in Illinois are already 10 ppb. 
Survival of pheasant chicks should eventually increase if chlorinated insecticides 
have been a major contributor to mortality. 
