\Ja • 
Dr. George Sprugel 
MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
* 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois September, 1969 NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY V°1 • ]2 > No - 9 
OCT 14 1969 
1 . Pheasant Populations and Land Use S. L. Etter, 
LIBRARY R* E - Greenberg 
Standardized counts of pheasant broods, made on the Sibley Study Area during 
July and August 19^9> revealed 19 percent more broods than in 1968 . One hundred 
twenty-seven broods were observed along 640 miles of roadside transect (two 40-mile 
routes were driven weekly), compared with 107 broods in 1968 . The average size of 
broods judged to be completely counted was 5*2 chicks, compared with 5-0 chicks in 
I 968 , an increase of 4 percent. 
The number of adult hen pheasants observed along these same 640 miles increased 
from I 67 in 1968 to 230 in 1969 (38 percent). Forty-five percent of the adult hens 
observed in 1969 were broodless, compared with 35 percent in 1968 . 
The above indices, except the percentage of broodless hens, suggest an increase 
in production in 19 ^ 9 > compared with 1968 . 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
In the last Monthly Wildlife Research Letter (12(8):1) it was reported that 
densities of pheasant nests this year on seeded roadside plots (1.6 nests per acre) 
represented the lowest rate of nest establishment on this type of plot during any 
of the past 7 years ( 1983 - 89 )* The rate of establishment on managed control plots 
in 1969 (1*4 nests per acre) was the same as that of the preceding year, which was 
the lowest in 6 years. 
On seeded plots in 1 989 > successful nest production (0.6 nest per acre) was the 
second lowest in the past 7 years, while production on managed control plots (also 
0.6 nest per acre) was the highest in the 7 years. Production on seeded roadsides 
has varied from a low of 0.5 nest per acre in 1 965 to a high of 1.1 successful nests 
per acre in 1963* On managed control plots, production has been fairly consistent, 
between 0.3 nest per acre in 1964 and 0.6 nest per acre this year. Over the 7 years 
99 nests have hatched on seeded plots (0.8 nest per acre), compared with 59 on 
managed control plots (0.4 nest per acre). 
3* Factors Inf1uencinq Pistribution and Abundance of Pheasants W. L. Anderson, 
D. R. Vance 
The recent discovery that the age of pheasants can be determined by measuring 
the proximal primary (see MWRL 12(8):2) has made it possible to compare condition 
parameters of yearling adult (1 year old) hens to those of old adult (2 or more year 
old) hens during the nesting season. The findings of this report are based on data 
obtained from 107 hen pheasants collected during the prenesting periods (early 
