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MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
November, 1 966 
Vol. 9, No. 11 
1. Ph easant Popu 1 at ions arid Land Use 5 L £tter 
A ratio of 3.9 young pheasants (both sexes) per adult hen was found among 346 
pheosants captured on the Sibley Study Area during October and early November, 
!9ob, wr.ereas a ratio of 3.0 young per adult hen was found among 385 pheasants 
captured during the same period in 1965- In 1966, age ratios within sexes were 2.1 
young hens per adult hen and 6.1 young cocks per adult cock; comparable figures for 
1965 were 1.6 for hens and 9.2 for cocks. 
These data suggest (1) a higher rate of production (or increased juvenile 
survival) in 1 966 than in 1965, (2) a higher rate of adult hen mortality in late 
summer and early fall of 1966 than during the same period in 1 965 , (3) or both. It 
appears from the data on the numbers of hens and broods observed along standardized 
routes during both years (Monthly Wildlife Research Letter, September, 1 966 ) that 
the higher ratio of juvenile pheasants per adult hen in 1 966 was the result of 
igher production (or increased juvenile survival, or both) rather than increased 
adult hen morta1 1 ty. 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat q. Josel 
Data presented in the October Monthly Wildlife Research Letter showed that 
tor the 4 years, 1 963 - 66 , pheasant nest densities on seeded roadside plots ( 3.0 
nests per acre) exceeded those on managed control plots (2.0 nests per acre) and 
on unmanaged control plots (1-5 nests per acre). Unmanaged control plots are 
representative of "typical" unseeded roadsides on the study area. 
Densities of established nests on the above three types of roadsides were 
compared with corresponding data, for the years 1963 - 66 , obtained from 100 , 10 -acre 
° 1 2 * * 5 ° n . the Slb,e Y Study Area (Table I). During each of the 4 years, seeded road- 
sides had a greater density of pheasant nests than any of the seven cover types on 
the 100, 10-acre plots, except unharvested and harvested tame hay in I 963 . Over 
the 4-year period the cover type most similar to seeded roadsides (unharvested tame 
hay) had 1.3 fewer nests per acre (43-3 percent) than seeded roadsides. Nest 
densities on managed control plots also compared favorably with densities recorded 
from the seven cover types. In 1963 , both types of hayfield cover on the study 
area, and in 1964, one type (unharvested tame hay), exceeded managed control road¬ 
sides m density of nests per acre, and, in 1964, density of nests in strip cover 
was .re same as on the managed control plots. With these exceptions, managed 
control roadsides showed a greater nest density than any of the seven cover types 
during each of the 4 years. 
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