i/ . 
NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY 
FEB 0 1970 
MONTHLY l/ILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
T 
LIBRARY 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
January, 1970 
Vol. 13, No. 1 
1. Pheasant Populations and Land Use 
S. L. Etter, 
R. E. Greenberg 
During the fall trapping periods of 1962-68, 63 tagged hen pheasants were 
recaptured on the Sibley Study Area. Twenty-four of these hens were captured 
after their first nesting season; 39 were captured after their second or later 
nesting seasons. The length of the most recently molted primary feather was 
recorded for each bird. Based on the assumption that the rate of molt and rate 
of growth of the primary wing feathers of adult hens were equal to those of 
juvenile hens, the dates of molt initiation were obtained by backdating from the 
date of capture. 
The earliest dates of molt initiation for first-season and older hens were 
the weeks of July 2-8 and June 25-July l, respectively. The latest dates of 
molt initiation for first-year and older hens were the weeks of August 13*19 and 
August 27-September 2, respectively. Sixty-two percent (15) of the first-year 
hens began their wing molt between July 16 and 29, compared with 46 percent (18) 
of the older hens. 
Although the sample sizes involved are small, these data suggest that initia¬ 
tion of molt among older hens occurs over a longer period of time than among hens 
in their first nesting season. Based upon the general agreement of the initiation 
of wing molt in hens and their broods, it has been suggested that nesting hens 
begin molting approximately 4 weeks after their clutches hatch. If this is the 
case, the wing molt data are in close agreement with data obtained from tagged 
hens observed with broods (MWRL 12(6) :l), which indicated that the nesting effort 
of older hens is more prolonged thrn that of hens in their first nesting season. 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
The unmowed backslope areas making up the 2.25 miles of typical (unseeded) 
roadsides along Highway 47 (MWRL 12(12):!) presented some problems during 1968 
and 1969* Fertilizer applications to some plots had no discernible effect on the 
vegetation. It was felt that improving the fertility of the backslope area to 
promote the growth of grass might effect some measure of broadleaf weed control, 
but the occurrence of broadleaf weeds was not visibly reduced on the fertilized 
areas. 
Spraying for broadleaf weeds on this project has given unsatisfactory 
results. Inadequate equipment and the relatively weak 2,4-D amine used in 1968 
in selected plots resulted in a rather narrow spectrum of weed control. A 
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