Chukar Counts Good in South, Lower in North

Annual helicopter chukar counts indicate a good season for bird hunters in southern Idaho but discouraging news in the bird's northern ranges. Abnormally wet, cool weather during the nesting and early brood rearing period in the Clearwater Region apparently led to a steep decline in chukar numbers. The 583 chukars counted along the Salmon River survey route represented a 51 percent decline from the 1,192 birds counted in 2001 and were 37 percent lower than the 1997-2001 average of 926. Biologists saw 286 chukars on the Lower Snake River route in comparison to 875 counted in 2001. That is 67 percent below last year and represents a 69 percent drop from the previous five-year average of 919. Bird hunters will be much happier with the numbers from the Brownlee count where populations seem to be holding in about the same range as the last four years. The 10-year average in the 12-square-mile survey area is 95 chukar per square mile. The count this year was 124 birds per square mile, down from 143 seen last year. Starting with 1998, the counts have been 109.3, 110.8, 124, 143.7 and 120. Biologists counted 1,488 chukars in 92 groups with an average of 16 chukars per group. This is 33 percent above the 10-year average of 1,121 chukars but down 14 percent from last year. The count was conducted on September 4 this year. At Lucky Peak, the count was 22 birds per square mile, about 24 percent above the 10-year average. Game bird biologist Tom Hemker noted that, given the difficulty in counting precise numbers of chukars, the population levels should be considered roughly equal over the last five years. The counts give hunters and bird biologists an excellent indicator of major trends in bird populations.