MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Ml 
n 
C 
19 71 
IIBP/lqy 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
May, 1971 
Vol. 14, No. 5 
Pheasant Populations and Land Use 
S. L. Etter 
y 
R. E. Greenberg 
During the period April 20-29, 1971, systematic counts of pheasants 
were conducted along 57 miles of all-weather roads on the Sibley Study 
Area. Since 16 miles of these roads border the study area and observa¬ 
tions are confined to only one side of the road, actual mileage for both 
sides of the road is 49 miles. As in the past 2 years, the observation 
period was confined to the first 2 hours after sunrise, which allowed 
coverage of half the roads each morning. Four counts were obtained for 
each road. Counts conducted during the period April 27-May 6, 1970, 
followed these same criteria. 
These counts revealed 46 percent more cocks in 1971 than in 1970. 
The count in 1971 recorded 325 cocks (168 per 100 miles), compared with 
222 cocks (114 per 100 miles) in 1970. Winter sex ratios obtained during 
periods of snow cover in 1970 and 1971 were 40 and 37 cocks per 100 hens, 
respectively. By using these figures, indices of 555 and 878 hens were 
calculated for 1970 and 1971 , respectively, an increase of 58 percent. 
These data suggest that pheasant survival during the mild winter of 
1970-71 was considerably higher than during the winter of 1969-70, when 
snow cover persisted for a considerable length of time. However, abnor¬ 
mally low precipitation from January to April in l 97 1 resulted in a 
marked retardation of vegetative growth, and the shorter cover may have 
allowed the observation of a greater proportion of pheasants in I 97 I 
than is normally possible. Thus, the magnitude of the increase in 
pheasant numbers indicated by the spring counts in 1971 may be somewhat 
inflated. 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
Over the past several years a few miles of roadside have been graded 
each summer in the course of road-maintenance work in each of the several 
townships in the vicinity of Sibley. This work is generally associated 
with roadbed preparation for application of blacktop material to the road 
surface, for improvement of drainage, or both. The extent of such work 
is unknown and no doubt varies from township to township. In the immediate 
vicinity of Sibley, it is estimated that 2 to 4 miles (on both sides of 
the road) of roadside per township have been graded each year for the past 
several years. The Department of Conservation and the Natural History 
