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BUS Beli N 19 
A RURAL ROADSIDE FOR PHEASANTS: 
IS THIS THE VERY LAST DITCH? 
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As Habitat for the Ring-Neck Disappears, 
Nesting Grounds Share With Autos 
by GARY C. THOMAS, Illinois Department of Conservation 
The Ring-necked Pheasant has 
adapted fairly well to intensively- 
farmed regions of Illinois. But just 
how intensive can farming become 
before this exotic import heads 
downhill? 
Clean-row crop farming — fence 
to fence — probably is driving the 
pheasant out of existence here, 
robbing the bird of nesting and 
cover habitat. So believe wildlife 
biologists of the Department of 
Conservation after a decade of 
specific study, still continuing 
through 1973 and ’74. 
Livingston, Ford and McLean 
Counties, in east central Illinois, 
are considered the major pheasant 
range in the state, although lately 
this prime area seems to be slowly 
moving south and westward. 
Peak year for pheasant was 1962, 
with an estimated 95 hens per 
square mile during the _ spring 
breeding season, Four years later, 
Illinois sank to its all time low 
with almost 75 percent fewer birds. 
It was estimated that there were 
only 26 hens per square mile dur- 
ing this low in the prime pheasant 
range. 
“We believe that the pheasant 
hit this low due to loss of habitat,” 
says Jim Moak, chief upland game 
biologist for the Illinois Depart- 
ment of Conservation. “Farmers 
began using more and more fer- 
tilizer and planted more and more 
acres to grow crops. Cattle were 
eliminated from many farms so 
row crops could be planted. This 
cut down the need for hay fields 
and pastures, which is where phea- 
sants nest.” 
In the peak year of 1962, 30 per- 
cent of the land in the major phea- 
sant range was in hay fields, pas- 
tures and small grains. The bird 
flourished. However by 1966, 75 
percent of these crops and pas- 
tures were gone and had been re- 
placed by row crops such as beans 
and corn. 
“It is interesting to note that the 
pheasant population declined al- 
most exactly the same amount as 
did the habitat,” Moak points out. 
“Since the low year of 1966, our 
population has increased — but it 
is only about half of what it was 
during the peak. We estimate now 
about 45 hens per square mile on 
the study area in prime range.” 
Part of a  Pittman-Robertson 
Federal Aid project, the study was 
sponsored by the Department of 
Conservation and done by the Ill- 
nois Natural History Survey. 
The problem was easily defined 
— deteriorating land use. The solu- 
tion was harder to come by. 
“There were many things the 
Department of Conservation could 
have done, all limited by budget,” 
