MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of 
Glen 
Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
May, 1972 
Vol. 15, No. 5 
Pheasant Populations and Land Use G. B. Joselyn 
During the period April 17 to May 2, 1972, systematic counts of 
pheasapts were conducted along 57 miles of all-weather roads on the Sibley 
Study Area. Observations were confined to only one side of the road along 
the 16 miles of these roads that border the study area. As in the past 3 
years, the observation period was confined to the first 2 hours after 
sunrise, which allowed coverage of half the roads each morning. Four 
counts were obtained for each road. 
These counts revealed 37 percent fewer cocks in 1972 than in 1971, ar >d 
8 percent fewer than in 1970* The counts in 1972 recorded 204 cocks (105 
per 100 miles), compared with 325 cocks (168 per 100 miles) in 1971 and 
222 cocks (114 per 100 miles) in 1970. Winter sex ratios obtained during 
periods of snow cover during January and February, 1972, were 26 cocks per 
100 hens; sex ratios of 40 and 37 cocks per 100 hens were obtained during 
the winters of 1970 and 1971, respectively. By using these figures, hen 
indices for 1970 were calculated at 555; for 1971, 878 ; and for 1972, 785- 
The hen index for 1972 is therefore estimated at about 10 percent less than 
the Index for 1971 but 41 percent higher than that of 1970. 
While the spring hen population in 1972 appears to be down slightly 
from 1971 , it still is estimated to be higher than in any year (except 
1971) since 1964. During that year, the hen index was 1,420; the indices 
for 1963 and 1962 were 1,822 and 1,720, respectively. The lowest index 
during the last 11 years was 491 hens in 1967 • 
Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
Efforts of the Department of Conservation to seed graded roadsides 
throughout Ford County were described in earlier reports (MWRL 14(6, 7):1-2, 
and MWRL 14(8):1). Road maintenance personnel (county and township) make it 
a practice, each year, to grade the roadsides adjacent to those roads 
scheduled to be blacktopped. In Ford County, grading was done along 
approximately 64.5 miles of roads (both sides) during 1970 ar >8 1971 > the 
equivalent of roadsides around 16 square miles. Indications are that each 
year, for 10 years, grading will be done along approximately 20 miles of 
road in the county. Since graded roadsides are not reseeded by the township 
or county, these areas are virtually devoid of nesting cover for several 
years after grading. It is therefore considered desirable to attempt cover 
restoration on these roadsides on a continuing basis. 
