^ Illinois Federal Aid Projects W-66-R, W-87-R, and W-88-R 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Eva Steger, Editors 
MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Champaign, Illinois 
March, 1982 
Vol. 25, No. 3 
% 
Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat - W-66-R 
R. E. Warner 
Pheasants were counted by helicopter on 5 study areas in east-central 
Illinois during the winter of 1981-82. Counts of <5 pheasants per section were 
registered for all areas (Table 1). The 1981-82 counts are perhaps unusually 
conservative because most flights were made shortly after a major snowfall. 
Pheasants had not resumed feeding in open areas at the time of the censuses. 
The numbers of pheasants on the areas remain severely depressed, as they 
have been since the severe winter storms of the late 1970 s. Because mos o 
the areas are devoted nearly exclusively to corn and soybean farming, pheasants 
will probably not increase substantially. 
Table 1. Pheasants counted by helicopter on 5 study areas in east-central 
Illinois. (Illinois Department of Conservation personnel [W- 85 -D] assisted 
with the counts.) 
Area 
Pheasants per square mile 
January-February 1979 December 1981-February 1982 
SSA 
FCMU 
Anchor 
Ha rwood 
Prairie Green 
1 
1-2 
(29 December 1981) 
7 
2-3 
(13 January 1982) 
1 
<1 
(29 December 1981) 
(no census) 
3-*4 
(13 January 1982) 
2 
2-3 
(11 February 1982) 
Ecology and Management of Squirrels - W-66-R 
C. M. Nixon, 
L. P. Hansen 
Last month (MWRL 25(2):2) we reported that reproductive rates of adult 
female fox squirrels vary widely, both seasonally and annually. Knowledge ot 
the causes of this variability is important not only biologically but also from 
a management standpoint. 
