Good Fence Rows Make Good Neighbors

The days are getting longer and spring is right around the corner. If you are fortunate enough to have pheasants as neighbors you will soon see roosters establishing breeding territories and hear the familiar two-noted crow call that males use to advertise these territories to prospective mates. Pheasants are large and showy introduced game birds that are more tolerant of agricultural development then are our native prairie grouse such as the prairie chicken and sharp-tailed grouse. Native prairie grouse populations experienced severe and widespread declines as our nation went under the plow. The pheasant was introduced for many reasons, not the least of which was to replace the aesthetic and recreational values that were lost with the demise of our native prairie grouse. The earliest recorded attempt to introduce pheasants to the U.S. occurred in 1733 when then governor of New York, Col. John Montgomerie, released a dozen pairs of English black-necked pheasants on Nutten Island New York. In 1790 Benjamin Franklin's son-in-law, John Bach, imported and released an unknown number of birds to New Jersey. During his first term in office president, George Washington, imported several pairs of pheasants from England and had them released on his Mount Vernon estate. These early attempts were largely unsuccessful. It wasn't until 1882 when Judge Owen N. Denny released 50 to 70 Chinese Ring-necked pheasants to the Willamette valley in Oregon that the pheasant really got a hold in America. In 1892, a mere 10 years after their introduction in Oregon, pheasants were so abundant that the state declared 75 day hunting season and 50,000 birds were harvested on the first day. The success of the Ring-necked pheasant in Oregon stimulated the interest of both sportsman and game management agencies across the country. By 1907 the Pheasant had been successfully introduced and established in 39 states. Increasing day length stimulates physiological changes in pheasants that prepare them for the breeding season. By late February or early March, dependent in part on the weather, males begin to move from wintering areas onto breeding areas where they set up territories that they advertise to females and defend against other males. Although males have been documented to move up to 7 miles from winter cover to establish breeding territories, this is the exception. Most (85%) move less than a mile. This is why it is important that winter and breeding habitat be available in relatively close proximity to one another to maintain robust pheasant populations. Territory establishment begins in late winter and early spring, but actual breeding does not begin in earnest until mid April, peaking in early May, and declining through July. Hens seek out undisturbed patches of residual herbaceous cover (non-woody weed and tall grass patches) for nesting early in the season. Dense roadside vegetation, fencerows, and grassy openings in brushy property corners all provide good nesting habitat. Later in the season as spring plant growth progresses, wheat and hay fields also become attractive to nesting birds. Hay fields can become a death trap to nesting hens. Many hens breed in early to mid-May and then lay one egg per day for 9-12 days to establish a clutch. Hens incubate their eggs for 23 days resulting in a peak hatch that occurs in mid-June. This coincides with the first hay cutting in many areas and the swathers frequently kill hens that are still on the nest at this time. Providing good availability of dense residual cover in early spring reduces the likelihood that hens will nest in hayfields and be vulnerable to accidental farming related mortality. The peak of pheasant hatch is in mid-June. All of the eggs hatch within a 24-hour period and chicks leave with the hen never to return to the nest. For the first 2-3 weeks the hen and her brood remain in a small area near the nesting site. Chick mortality is fairly high. About 25% die within two weeks and 50% die by week nine. Cold wet spring weather with death from exposure is the major cause of chick mortality. Predation and accidents also take a toll. Good quality brood rearing habitat increases a chick's chance for survival. Dense woody shrub and tree cover helps protect the hen and her brood from inclement weather and provides escape cover from predators. Broods feed heavily on insects, which provide protein and energy for growth at this time. Non-woody cover with a good mix of grass and forb species provide an abundance of insects for chicks to feed on but only if they are not treated with pesticides. Because young chicks cannot fly and therefore have limited mobility all habitat components need to be available in close proximity to one another. Fall is a time of abundance for the pheasant population. Waste grain from agricultural crops is widely available, cold weather has not killed insects yet, and although there is generally a reduction of cover associated with agricultural harvest other cover resources have not been filled in with or been flattened by snow. By fall, chicks have reached adult size and energy resources are directed away from growth and to fat stores that will help carry them through the winter. Fall also brings the hunting season. Unlike other upland game birds, male and female pheasants are easily distinguished in the field and even on the wing. This has allowed managers to target males with hunting season regulations and most states prohibit or restrict harvest of females. In a typical hunting season 50-70% of the male population may be harvested. Because pheasants are polygamous (one male mates with many females) heavy harvest of males has no detrimental effect on the following breeding population. In fact, fewer males mean more food and cover resources are available to breeding females through the winter. If fall is pheasant "easy street", then winter must be pheasant "skid row". Many fields have been fall plowed and waste grain becomes buried and unavailable. Temperatures drop and energy demands increase. Pheasants must scratch through snow that covers needed food resources. If the snow is deep or heavily crusted many food resources are simply unavailable. The abundant cover of summer and fall are also gone. Crops have been harvested and winter wind and snow flatten and bury much of the non-woody cover. In heavy snowfall years even the smaller patches woody cover fill in. A mid-winter's drive through the agricultural countryside reveals a virtual moonscape in sharp contrast to the abundance of summer and fall. Winter is the pheasant population bottleneck and winter cover is the key to pheasant over-winter survival. Pheasants need abundant dense woody cover for protection from the elements and predators to make it through the winter. They also need easily accessed food resources. Shrubs with persistent berries, and small patches of standing grain that keep food available above the snow are critical to pheasant over-winter survival. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game can help you to be a good neighbor to local wildlife. Our Habitat Improvement Program (HIP) offers both technical and financial assistance to private landowners and public land managers to enhance upland game or waterfowl habitat. In addition to free technical assistance to evaluate your land and recommend improvements, the HIP program can typically cost-share 50-75% of habitat development costs. Frequently there are opportunities to combine HIP funding and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Farm Bill conservation programs that result in 90% of development costs covered for the landowner. HIP priorities include establishing blocks of dense grassy nesting cover, shrub and tree plantings for winter thermal and predator escape cover, purchase of standing grain as food plots, and pond construction. For more information on how the Idaho Department of Fish and Game can help you benefit your feathered neighbor's contact IDFG Regional Wildlife Habitat Biologist Dave Leptich at the IDFG regional office in Coeur d'Alene or call (208) 769-1414.