MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER „ AMflL 0 ,„ i( 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Coopetj^ijng j y 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
April, 1967 
Vol. 10, No. 4 
1. Pheasant Populations and Land Use S. L. Etter 
During the years 1962-64, 396 hen pheasants (170 adults and 226 juveniles) 
marked during October and early November were observed during the following 
January-March periods while they were associated in winter groups. Of the adult 
hens observed, 130 (76 percent) had moved less than 1 mile from the fall capture 
sites, whereas only 20 (12 percent) had moved more than 2 miles. Of the juvenile 
hens observed, 142 (63 percent) had moved less than 1 mile, whereas 42 (19 percent) 
had joined winter groups more than 2 miles from the fall capture sites. These data 
indicate that juvenile hens are somewhat more mobile during the late fall and early 
winter than are adult hens. 
In view of the above data and of the lower survival rate of juvenile hens, as 
compared with that of adult hens, during the October-February period (Monthly 
Wildlife Research Letter, March, 1966), it appears likely that social stress is 
increased in late fall when birds become concentrated in the small amount of cover 
remaining after the crop harvest, and that the juvenile hens are forced, in some 
instances, to accept fnarginal wintering conditions. 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
The chemical defoliate Ortho Paraquat and the herbicide 2,4-D (ester) are 
being utilized on an experimental basis this spring and coming summer to determine 
the ability of these chemicals to modify "natural" (unseeded) roadside vegetation. 
A mile of roadside has been divided into 10 plots, each 130 yards in length, to 
which the chemicals are being applied, and one plot 440 yards long to serve as a 
control (no chemicals applied). Five of the 130-yard plots are being treated with 
Paraquat and the other five with 2,4-D. Spraying is being carried out on both 
sets of plots this spring and summer, according to five predetermined schedules 
with each chemical being applied on one plot: Plot 1, at 2-week intervals from 
April 15 through July 1; Plot 2, at 4-week intervals beginning April 15; Plot }>, 
on May 1 and June I; Plot 4, on May 15 and June 15; and Plot 5* on May 15 only. 
Vegetative composition of the chemically treated and of the control plot will be 
compared to determine changes attributable to the chemicals. 
3* Factors Inf 1uencing Pistribution and Abundance of Pheasants W. L. Anderson 
Current investigations of factors influencing the distribution and abundance 
of pheasants in Illinois are concerned primarily with measuring physiologic 
characteristics of pheasants from thriving populations located in Ford and 
Livingston counties. Pheasants are collected during all seasons of the year and 
are dissected to obtain weights of muscles, of fat deposits, and of internal organs. 
