MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois August, 1 965 Vol . 8, No. 8 
I. Pheasant Populations and Land Use S. L. Etter 
The standardized counts of pheasant broods, made on the Sibley Study Area 
during July and August 1965, revealed 28 percent fewer broods than were recorded 
in 1964 and 45 percent fewer broods than were recorded in 1 963 - One hundred 
fourteen broods were observed along 640 miles of roadside transect (two 40-mile 
routes were driven weekly), compared with 159 broods in 1964 and 207 broods in 
1963 * Because of a combination of circumstances--higher roadside vegetation, 
later small-grain harvest, and fewer mornings with optimum dew conditions, than 
in the 2 preceding years--it is thought that the number of broods observed in 1965 
may be somewhat lower than the actual number of broods present on the area. The 
average size of broods judged to be completely counted was 5-2 chicks, compared 
with 4.7 chicks in 1964, an increase of 10 percent. 
The number of adult pheasant hens observed during July and August along the 
same 640 miles of roadside decreased from 392 hens in 1964 to 234 hens in 1965 
(40 percent). Fifty-four percent of the adult hens observed in 1965 were brood¬ 
less, compared with 61 percent in 1964. 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
Data obtained during the past three summers (1963~65) regarding pheasant 
nesting ecology on the seeded roadside plots suggest that pheasants may prefer 
nearly "pure" stands of brome or a mixture of brome and alfalfa, for nesting 
cover, to the mixture of grasses and legumes now being used. For the past 3 years, 
a mixture of three grasses (brome, timothy, orchard grass) and two legumes (alfalfa, 
red clover) has been seeded on all manipulated roadsides. The handling, weighing, 
and mixing of five types of seed is time consuming and more costly than single¬ 
species seeding. 
If the apparent preference of pheasants for brome or a brome-alfalfa mixture 
for nesting cover could be definitely determined, seeding operations would thus 
be simplified; the possibility of establishing the seedings would be enhanced, under 
most circumstances; and the more homogeneous appearance presented by the roadside 
vegetation would have definite public relations value. These considerations would 
be important if roadside seedings should ever be established over a large area as 
part of a management plan. 
Selective seeding of the various species or combinations of species along 
segments of roadsides and comparing pheasant nest densities in these seedings over 
a period of time would be 
e way to investigate pheasant nesting- 
