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 
February, I 967 
Vo 1. 10, No. 2 
*• Pheasant Populations and Land Use 
S. L- Etter 
The dispersal of pheasants from fall capture sites to wintering areas is 
apparently influenced by at least three factors: changes in cover conditions, 
accumulation of snow, and hunting. In an attempt to evaluate the effect of hunting 
on this dispersal, distances from the capture sites where tagged cocks were killed 
on opening day and during the following 8 days were compared. Because of the short 
period of time involved, cover changes were minimal, and in neither 1962 nor I 963 , 
the 2 years in which sufficient numbers of cocks were killed to allow comparison, 
was there any snow during this period. Thus it appeared that any differences in 
movements could be attributed to hunting. 
The movement data from 295 cocks were grouped in 5 -mile intervals and the 
number of cocks in each category for each period were compared. A Chi-square test 
of these data indicated that significantly more of the cocks killed in the 8 days 
following opening day were killed at greater distances from the capture sites than 
were those killed on opening day. While these data do not indicate the relative 
importance of hunting in determining the winter distribution of pheasants, they 
strongly suggest that hunting does affect dispersal of pheasants independently of 
changes in cover conditions and snow accumulation. 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
As prime pheasant nesting cover (hay and pasture) continues to decline on the 
Sibley Study Area, roadsides are becoming an increasingly important component of 
the nesting habitat complex. Of the 470 pheasant nests located on the 100, 10-acre 
study plots in 1962, 32 (7 percent) were on roadsides; in 1 966 , when only 101 nests 
were found on the plots, 27 (27 percent) were on roadsides. In 1962, only 8 per¬ 
cent of all successful nests (8 of 101) came from roadsides, compared with 24 
percent (5 of 21) in 1966. Thus, although roadsides make up only about 1.5 percent 
of the study area, it seems reasonable to suggest that in the near future they 
will become the single most important nesting habitat. 
In 1966, the success, in terms of pheasant production, per unit area of seeded 
roadsides on the study area was approximately three times that on "typical" unseeded 
roadsides. Thus, in the absence of hayfield and pasture cover, the seeding of 
roadsides could become a practical management tool which probably would substantial! 
affect total production of pheasants on the study area. 
3- Factors Influencing Distribution and Abundance of Pheasants W. L. Anderson 
Mean weights, in milligrams, of thyroid glands excised from hen pheasants 
co1 Iec ted in eas t-cen t ra1 I 11ino is during various pe riods in 1 966 we re: winter-- 
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