MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
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Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
August, 1966 
Vol. 9, No. 8 
1. Pheasant Popu1 at ions and Land Use S. L. Etter 
During the nesting season of 1966 , eight tagged pheasant hens (three adults, 
and five young from 1965) were observed on nests. Two additional tagged hens 
(both young from 1964) were observed on nests in 1 965 - 
Of the total of 10 tagged hens observed on nests in these 2 years, 7 were 
nesting within 0.5 mile of the sites where they were last observed (Table 1). 
Five of these seven hens were nesting in the same fields in which they had last 
been seen. Only one hen (G33) observed as late as May moved more than 0.25 mile 
to nest. Since the two tagged hens observed on nests in 1965 were not observed 
after the breakup of winter groups, it was not possible to determine whether 
they moved before or after being associated in harems. 
Although the sample size is small, the above data suggest that while pheasant 
are capable of moving considerable distances to find suitable nesting cover, they 
seldom move more than 0.25 to 0.5 mile from the harems to the nesting sites. 
Table 1. Distances moved by tagged hen pheasants to nesting sites (from sites 
where last observed), Sibley Study Area, 1965 and I 966 . 
Distance Moved to Nest 
Hen Number Date of Last Previous Observation (in miles) 
Y52 
April 
7, 
1966 
-0.25 
Y53 
Apr i 1 
7, 
1966 
-0.25 
Y04 
October 
21 , 
1965 
0.5 
B29 
January 
17, 
1966 
-0.25 
B33 
May 
6 , 
1966 
-0.25 
G33 
May 
13, 
1966 
2.25 
Y 82 
April 
26 , 
1966 
0.25 
Y49 
Apri 1 
23, 
1966 
WffllML ®0M mel 
0.25 
W66 
February 
17, 
1965 
1.25 
W3V 
March 
3, 
1965 
SEP 12 1966 
6.0 
UBRMK 
2. Manipu1 at ion of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
The second and final search was made for pheasant nests on manipulated and 
on managed control roadside plots along 9l miles of roadway on and near the 
Sibley Study Area from July 22 through August 1; the first search took place June 
20-27 (Monthly Wildlife Research Letter, July, 1966). One hundred and three 
nests were located on the plots during the two searches, 65 ( 2.9 nests per acre) 
on seeded plots and 38 (1-7 nests per acre) on managed control plots (Table 2.). 
