Pheasant Predators And Stocking Birds

Predators The greatest predators of the pheasant are the red fox, the striped skunk and the raccoon. Birds of prey such as the owl and hawk account for less then 10% of the deprecated adult pheasants and their nest.

Predators Continued Coyotes have gotten much of the blame for decreased pheasant populations, but research has shown that they do not take adult pheasants nearly as frequently as other prey. Because of the large range of coyotes, they can sometimes lead to lower populations of other predators to pheasants.

Removal of Predators Trapping throughout nesting season has lead to the most success for small areas. Sustained trapping tend to stimulate reproduction by predators (compensation for artificially low densities).

Removal of Predators This generally results in more juvenile predators, which tend to wander across more landscape, increasing their chance of taking nesting pheasants.

Fences Fences have been used with some success, but are very expensive. Predators must be completely removed, or it may lead to lower nesting rates.

Dilution The best way to increase pheasant population is to increase habitat. Well-designed habitat can reduce predication by up to 80%. Habitat larger then 40 acres greatly increases nesting success. Wider stripes of habitat also increases nesting success.

Stocking Pheasants Survival Rate ( weeks of age) 60% of pheasants survive the initial week of release. After one month about 25% will remain. Over winter survival rates have been documented as high as 10% but seldom exceeds 5%.

Stocking Pheasants Predators account for the majority of these loses. Money invested in habitat renewal and establishment of new habitat is a much better investment of our money to increase pheasant numbers then stocking is.