Pheasant Ecology
The pheasant is widely recognized as the most popular upland game bird. As hunters and conservationists interested in pheasants and to ensure that generations to come will have the opportunity to view and pursue the vibrant flurry of a rooster flushing from the field, it is important to understand the facts about pheasants, their history and biology including its life cycle, habitat needs, and sources of mortality.
The Ring-necked pheasant was first successfully introduced in the Willamette Valley of Oregon in 1881. However, the history of the pheasant in Minnesota does not begin until 1905 when the Minnesota Department of Game and Fish (G&F) released 70 pairs from Wisconsin and Illinois, but none survived. Between 1916 and 1918, the MN G&F released 4,000 pheasants and provided 6,000 eggs to farmers and sportsmen. The first hunting season was held for 4 days during 1924 in two Minnesota counties where hunters harvested a meager 300 roosters.
By 1931, 49 counties were open for a ten-day season and more than 1,000,000 roosters were bagged. In 1941, Minnesota had its record harvest of 1,790,000 birds, although hunters were allowed to have one hen in their daily bag. The record rooster harvest of 1,562,000 came in 1958, when the population was estimated to be around 6 million birds.
Significant changes in the landscape (primarily the reduction of undisturbed nesting habitat due to agricultural fragmentation) occurred throughout the middle of the century and by 1981 the estimated population in Minnesota was down to only 1 million birds. Many sportsmans' groups continued the stocking efforts of the the early '20's, but with now success. In 1982 concerned sportsmen started Pheasants Forever, whose mission would focus on habitat. In 1984, the year Pheasants Forever completed its first habitat project, the state's pheasant population had dwindled down to approximately 500,000 birds.
In 2003, after twenty years and 240,000 acres of habitat projects by Pheasants Forever and nearly a million acres in Conservation Program lands, hunters bagged approximately 511,000 roosters.
Nesting
The nesting season begins with courtship as roosters scatter from winter cover to establish territories. Hens, attracted by , locate roosters, and if they can find good nesting cover, begin nest building. Once the nest is built, hens lay 1 egg each day. The average clutch (number of eggs in a nest) is 12, but they may lay up to 18. After all the eggs are laid (the actual number will depend on the energy reserves of the hen and time of year), the hen will begin incubating and only leave the nest 1 or 2 times to feed each day. Twenty-three (23) days after incubation begins, the eggs will hatch. Some nests are destroyed, but pheasants are determinant nesters and will try again. Hatching marks the beginning of the brood rearing season.
Average Nest Initiation Date: May 1 (March 15-July 15)
Average Incubation Start: May 24 (April 1 - August 1)
Average Hatch: June 15 (April 15-Aug 15)
Brood Rearing
All fertile eggs in a nest hatch within 24 hours of one another. Shortly after hatching the hen leads the brood to alfalfa or other fields of forbs that are saturated with grasshoppers and other insects needed in the chicks diet for rapid growth.
More than 90% of a chick's diet is insects during the first week and 50% during the first 5 weeks. During the first few weeks the brood will stay relatively close to home (10-20 acres surrounding the nest site), but eventually expand their home range to nearly 70 acres. At 3 weeks the chicks are capable of short (150ft) flights, and by 8 weeks they can sustain adult-like flights.
The hen will remain with the brood through 8-10 weeks, but even under her watchful eye ½ of the brood will be lost to mortality. By the time the young pheasants reach 16 weeks of age, their plumage is virtually indistinguishable from adults.
MN DNR Guide to Aging Pheasant Chicks
Food and Foraging
As fall approaches in late September, the juvenile and adult birds begin a feeding binge as to build up fat reserves that will be needed throughout the winter.
Pheasants will eat many types of grain and seeds, but in these fall months, corn will compromise more than ½ of their diet. The foraging season also coincides with that of hunting, which will claim approximately ½ of all roosters.
Winter Survival
Winters in the upper Midwest represent the time of greatest mortality for pheasants. Rarely do pheasants freeze or starve, but often the blanketing snows and frigid temperatures reduce their health or concentrate them in limited habitats where predators are the direct cause of mortality.
Core Wintering Area's can be used in areas where there is sufficient nesting cover to increase over-winter survival and ultimately bring more hens, in better condition, into the nesting season.