W^ 
 
 
 
 
 wife '^ 
 
 
 m&m: 
 
L I E> R_AFLY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 U N IVER^SITY 
 
 or ILLINOIS 
 
 cop. 2 
 
 "AiUHAL HISTORY 
 SURVEY 
 
DISTRIBUTION 
 
 -!r . -,- ' y ^f . 
 
 ' <• " ..V- 
 
 :HHoaBait' 
 
 VBBBIiaiBi 
 
 W3My*iSSfl^lK 
 
 
 '■"■'/i.J 
 
 IN^ltLINp1^-|? 
 
 v^v' 
 
 . FREDERICK GREELEY 
 
 
 . .RONALD F. LABISKYt., • ''A 
 
 STUART H. MANN 
 
 ,\;f - 
 
 5^tr? 
 
 Biological Notes No. 47\1 
 
 jBlllk*_^^ 
 
 ^^MBBBIIBBkTQ^g 
 
 ^•IBBPWrfTBBIIBBPaSi 
 
 I^B£::!!:£=S=UBBKaBaKr-' n?ir:iBBBI 
 ^JI^Jii■■l■BBB■Bli^(i•)■■■BBB■ 
 
 ig.*"i^;^aBBBaBaBJBBBBBBBI 
 ^ ,„ ^,iBBBB=.»^=lTS===5 
 
 -:i-.u- 
 
 Printed by Aufhorify of the State of lllinoit 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY 
 SURVEY DIVISION \' 
 
 Harlow B. Mills, Chief 
 
 Urbana, Illinois 
 
 March, 1962 -^ ' 
 
 ICUNTM 
 
 SI CUM 
 
 ^ 
 
 ( 
 
 
 
 
 
 i- 
 
 JMWOUH 
 
 wnff 
 
 V 
 
 vL 1 
 
 
 
 V 
 
 <; 
 
 Bsan 
 \ 
 
 
 
 Huww mm 
 
 vs--; 
 
^ "3 
 
 o 
 
 7|! 
 
DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE OF PHEASANTS IN ILLINOIS* 
 
 FREDERICK GREELEY, RONALD F. LABISKY, AND STUART H. MANNt 
 
 The exotic ring-necked plieasant {Pliasianus cole In- 
 cus) , introduced into Illinois in the 1890's, has suc- 
 ceeded in establishing self-maintaining po])ulations in 
 approximately the northeastern third of the state. When 
 the prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) declined in 
 number with the encroachment of intensified agricul- 
 ture upon the grasslands of Illinois (Yeatter 1943:413), 
 sportsmen found the pheasant to be a suitable substitute 
 as a game bird. The pheasant occupies a variety of 
 habitats within its range in North America, but it is 
 most abundantly associated with intensive farming. In 
 Illinois, as elsewhere, pheasants have become most 
 abundant in tlie intensively cultivated cash-grain areas 
 (Robertson 1958:13), fig. 1. 
 
 Several investigators (Leopold 1931, Marquardt & 
 Scott 1952, Robertson 1958, Greeley 1960) have meas- 
 ured and mapped the distribution of pheasants in Illi- 
 nois. In this report the previous literature is reviewed 
 and new information and maps, figs. 2-8, on the distri- 
 bution and abundance of pheasants in Illinois are pre- 
 sented. Information of this kind is useful in the proper 
 management of the pheasant resource in Illinois, as well 
 as for establishment of hunting regulations. 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
 
 Acknowledgments are made to the following person- 
 nel, present or past, of the Illinois Natural History 
 Survey: Thomas G. Scott, Wildlife Specialist and 
 Head, Section of Wildlife Research, who provided ad- 
 ministrative and technical supervision throughout the 
 study; Carl O. Mohr and Ralph E. Yeatter, Wildlife 
 Specialists, who contributed both data and commentary 
 on distribution of pheasants in Illinois; Mrs. Carl Chen, 
 Laboratory Assistant, who compiled and analyzed many 
 of the rural mail carrier reports; Jack A. Ellis, Research 
 Associate, who gave many helpful suggestions through- 
 out the study; James S. Ayars, Technical Editor, and 
 Edward C. Visnow, Assistant Technical Editor, who ed- 
 ited the manuscript (Visnow also prejjared the maps) ; 
 and Wilmer D. Zehr, Assistant Technical Photograijher, 
 who did the photographic work. 
 
 William L. Preno, fJamc Uiologisi, Illinois Dc]jart- 
 nicnt of Conservation, ]jrovidcd new information from 
 state-wide censuses of pheasants. Charles Davis, Secre- 
 tary, Illinois Rural Letter Carriers Association, helped 
 
 * A contribution of Illinois Federal Aid Proicct.s No. 61-R, and No. 
 '*<I-R, the Illinois Department of C:onscrvation, the United States Btircaii 
 of Sport I'islieries and Wildlife, and llie Illinois Natural History Survey, 
 co-operatint?. 
 
 t Frederick Greeley was formerly Research Associate, and Stuart H. 
 Mann is Research Assistant, botft emjjloyed by the Illinois Department of 
 Conservation imder terms of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act 
 and assi^^ed to the Illinois .Natural History Survey for administrative and 
 technical supervision: Cireeley is now Associate Professor of WiUllife 
 Management. I'niversity of Massaehusells, Amherst. Ronald F. Lahisky 
 H Associate Wildlife Specialist, Illinois Natural History Survey, Urbana. 
 
 organize the rural mail carrier surveys, and nearly 1,000 
 rural mail carriers of Illinois participated in the surveys. 
 
 METHODS 
 
 Maps of regional or continental distribution of 
 pheasants have been compiled by Leopold (1931:106), 
 Walcott (1945:4), Aldrich & Duvall (19.55:21), Mc- 
 Cabe et al. (1956:275), and Wagner & Besadny 
 (1958:5). 
 
 Many sources of data have been used to obtain indi- 
 ces to pheasant populations in large geographic areas. 
 Leopold (1931), who compiled the first comprehensive 
 report on the distribution of pheasants in Illinois and 
 nearby states, obtained data from literature, from inter- 
 views and correspondence with local authorities, and 
 from personal observations. 
 
 Later, as the pheasant became more abundant in 
 Illinois, other workers estimated the annual harvest of 
 cocks from two types of cjucstionnaires filled out by 
 hunters, and mapped the distribution of pheasant popu- 
 lations by counties. 
 
 Questionnaires of the first type, each attached as a 
 stub to a hunting license, were to be filled out at the 
 end of the hunting season by the holders of licenses and 
 mailed to the Illinois Department of Conservation 
 (Marquardt & Scott 1952:4; Carl O. Mohr unpub- 
 lished). About 5 per cent of nearly a half million 
 hunters returned license-stub questionnaires for the 
 1950-51 hunting season, according to Marquardt & 
 Scott (1952:4), who recognized that, in the question- 
 nanes returned, inaccuracies existed both as to the 
 number of pheasants reported taken and the counties in 
 which they were reported taken. 
 
 Questionnaires of the second type, each on a double 
 postcard, were mailed after the hunting season to a 
 small number of license holders whose names and ad- 
 dresses were taken from the records of tlie state agencv 
 issuing licenses to hunt small game. On these posthunt- 
 ing season c]uestionnaires, hunters were asked to report 
 the number of wild cocks they had shot and the counties 
 in which they had killed them but not to report pheas- 
 ants shot in public or pri\ate shooting presenes. The 
 rates of return from these questionnaires (Robertson 
 1958:105) were much higher than those from the 
 license-stub questionnaires. Robertson (1958:106) sus- 
 pected four sources of bias in data derived from the 
 posthunting season questionnaires: "(1) the tendency 
 of the more successful hunters to reply to questionnaires 
 more readily than less successful hunters; (2) the tend- 
 ency of himters to include the kill of other members of 
 the hunting party in their reports: (3) the tendency to 
 include kills made outside the area to which the report 
 
referred; and (4) deliberate distortions of fact, usually 
 exaggerations." 
 
 More direct efforts to estimate the state-wide abun- 
 dance and distribution of pheasants were made by 
 personnel of the Illinois Department of Conservation; 
 these efforts involved winter sex ratios and spring counts 
 of cock calls (William L. Preno unpublished). Spring 
 counts of cock calls were obtained by recording the 
 number of individual cocks heard crowing per 2-minute 
 period at each of 20 stops located at 1-miIe intervals 
 along 20-mile standardized census routes: these census 
 routes were established through most of the range oc- 
 cupied by pheasants in Illinois. The counting of cock 
 calls was begun 40 minutes prior to sunrise and com- 
 pleted about 40 minutes after sunrise. Usually two 
 spring call counts were taken annually on each census 
 route between late April and late May; only the highest 
 of the two counts was used in calculating distribution 
 and abundance of pheasants along a route. The average 
 number of cocks recorded per stop along each route was 
 used as an index to the number of cocks in the area. 
 Factors influencing the validity of crowing counts have 
 been discussed in detail by Kimball (1949). who first 
 described the technicjue, Kozicky (1952), and Carney & 
 Petrides (1957). 
 
 During the winter preceding the spring counts of 
 cock calls in Illinois, .sex ratios had been obtained from 
 roadside counts of pheasants. Efforts had been made to 
 obtain the sex ratio of a sample of at least 200 pheasants 
 as near as possible to each route where a spring count 
 of cock calls was to be taken. The number of hens in 
 each area at the onset of the breeding season was esti- 
 mated by multiplying the number of cocks, as deter- 
 mined by the call counts in spring, by the number of 
 hens per cock, as determined by the sex ratio obtained 
 during the preceding winter. 
 
 In 1957 and 1958, information on the distribution 
 of pheasants in Illinois was obtained through data col- 
 lected by rural mail carriers. The rural mail carriers of 
 the state made six 5-day counts of pheasants along their 
 routes: in February of 1957, in January of 1958, and 
 in April and August of each of these years. The first 
 count included all 102 counties of the state. The re- 
 maining five counts were restricted to 76 coimties, which 
 included all the counties of the contiguous range. .A 
 map ]jreparcd by Greeley (1960:29) to show pheasant 
 populations of Illinois in April, 1958, was based on a 
 census by the rural mail carriers. 
 
 Questionnaires (postcards), with letters of instruc- 
 tion, were used in all six censuses. For the Fust l\\c) 
 censuses they were mailed directly to individual mail 
 carriers listed by the Illinois Rural Letter Carriers Asso- 
 ciation and for the other foiu" censuses to postmasters at 
 all post offices having rural routes. In the last four 
 censuses, the postmaster distributed the postcard ques- 
 tionnaires and instructions to the local mail carriers. 
 The mail carriers were asked to report the counties and 
 Uiwnsliips in wliich their routes were located, the length 
 
 of each route in miles, and the number of pheasants 
 (cocks, hens, chicks, and broods) obsersed along the 
 route on each of the 5 consecutive days specified in the 
 instructions submitted with questionnaires. If the route 
 of a mail carrier extended into two or more townships, 
 the reported data were divided equally among all the 
 townships listed on the questionnaire. The number of 
 miles driven and the number of pheasants seen during 
 the 5-day period were used to calculate the number of 
 pheasants observed per 100 miles of roadside obser\a- 
 tion in each township. Township imits were used to 
 map the distribution and abundance of phea.sants in 
 Illinois, figs. 2-8. The use of township units for map- 
 ping the range of pheasants has the advantage of 
 geographically refining the limits of distribution and 
 abundance to a greater extent than if units the size of 
 a county, or larger, are used. 
 
 Investigators have recognized that there is sampling 
 error and bias in most data used in mapping distribu- 
 tion and abundance of pheasant populations. The data 
 on which the maps presented in this report are based 
 undoubtedly contain both error and bias, but field ob- 
 servations have tended to confirm the patterns of distri- 
 bution shown for Illinois — sometimes in remarkable 
 detail. 
 
 EVALUATION OF COUNTS BY RURAL MAIL CARRIERS 
 
 Rural mail carrier censuses of pheasants have been 
 employed in Nebraska. North Dakota. South Dakota. 
 Iowa, Missouri. Montana (Kimball <■/ al. 1956:2.'i7-9) . 
 Michigan (MacMullan 1960:56-62), and Indiana (re- 
 ported by William E. Ginn at Fourteenth Midwest 
 Wildlife Conference, Des Moines. Iowa. 1952). Biases 
 involved in censuses by rural mail carriei's have been 
 recognized by all investigators using these censuses, but 
 the data obtained by such censuses in most states have 
 been found vei^v useful for determining annual indices 
 to the abundance of pheasants and for showing pheasant 
 distribution patterns. 
 
 Rural mail carriers in Illinois exhibited mtei-est and 
 participated enthusiastically in censusing pheasants. 
 Nearly three-fomths of the questionnaires distributed 
 to the carriers were returned, and most of the returned 
 t|iiestionnaires contained usable information, table 1. 
 In the percentage of questionnaires returned, there was 
 no significaiu ditlerence between those distributed di- 
 rectly to the carriei-s and those distributed to the carriers 
 via postmasters. 
 
 Several variable factors influenced the counts of 
 pheasants by mail carriers: principally because the ef- 
 fects of each were difficult to measure, no allowance 
 was made for ilu-iu when the data were analyzed. 
 Among these factors were (1) differences in interest or 
 obser\ational skill of the indixidual carriers. (2"i ])lu- 
 mage differences between cock and hen pheasants, 
 
 (3) behavioral differences between cocks and hens, 
 
 (4) seasonal differences in the amounts of vegetative 
 growth, (5) differences in the amounts of snow cover 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
Tabic 1. — Response of rural mail carriers in Illinois to ques- 
 tionnaires relating to abundance of pheasants along their routes, 
 1957 and 1958. 
 
 Per Cent 
 Per Cent of 
 
 Number of of Returned 
 
 Number of Question- Question- Question- 
 Counties naircs naires naires 
 Date Censused Mailed Returned Usable 
 
 1957 
 
 February 102 1 ,b:i4 76.0 97.4 
 
 April 76 1,284 65.0 96.4 
 
 August 76 1,423 62.5 90.3 
 
 1958 
 
 January 76 1,385 76.3 97.3 
 
 April 76 1,390 76.7 * 
 
 August 76 1,426 72.9 ....* 
 
 Mean 71.6 95.4 
 
 * Not calculated. 
 
 during the winter counts, and (6) differences in such 
 weather elements as wind, sunHght, temperature, pie- 
 cipitation, and dew. 
 
 Although individual differences undoubtedly existed 
 among the carriers in their interest in this project and 
 their ability to observe pheasants, few if any had been 
 trained in censusing pheasants, and such differences as 
 existed would tend to cancel each other over large, 
 although perhaps not township, areas. 
 
 The reported differences in the distribution and 
 abundance of pheasants in the winters of 1957 and 
 1958, figs. 2 and 3, were probably due partly to the 
 effect of snow with respect to the obser\ability of pheas- 
 ants and partly to an increase, in 1958, in the number 
 of cocks in the population. The distribution and amount 
 of snow arc cjuite variable in Illinois; it is unusual for 
 the entire pheasant range to have snow on the ground 
 in appreciable quantities at one time. Although snow 
 cover was present at the beginning of the census period 
 in February, 1957, a thaw removed much of the snow- 
 over a large area in the northern counties of the state 
 before the 5-day census was completed. In January, 
 1958, there was deep snow (5-20 inches) over the 
 census area except in portions of east-central and south- 
 
 central Illinois. Average range-wide winter counts were 
 1.7 cocks and 4.4 hens per 100 miles in February, 1957, 
 and 4.8 cocks and 10,1 hens per 100 miles in January, 
 1958, table 2. Evidence other than frt)m rural mail car- 
 rier counts indicated that, at least in east-central Illinois, 
 there were more cocks in the winter of 1958 than in the 
 winter of 1957, but that the abundance of hens was 
 similar. Rural mail carriers observed a relatively greater 
 number of cocks in 1958 than in 1957; sex ratios were 
 2.6 hens per cock in February, 1957, and 2.1 hens per 
 cock in Januaiy, 1958, table 2. 
 
 Fewer hen pheasants were seen by rural mail carriers 
 in April than in winter, table 2, although in April the 
 landscape is still quite barren of vegetation. Relatively 
 greater numbers of the cocks present were observed 
 during the April surveys than during the winter covmts, 
 as indicated by seasonal differences in sex ratios; because 
 of their behavior, as well as color, cocks are more con- 
 spicuous than hens during the breeding season. The 
 conditions for observing pheasants are probably more 
 nearly constant from year to year in April than in any 
 other month. April, therefore, may be the best time to 
 use rural mail carrier censuses for obtaining annual 
 indices of pheasant abundance. 
 
 In August, development of vegetation restricts tin- 
 field of vision of observers. During this month, the 
 number of pheasants observed by the rural mail carriers 
 was below the number seen in winter or spring, table 2, 
 even though more pheasants were present. The pres- 
 ence or absence of rain or dew on vegetation in the 
 mornings probably affected the counts of pheasants 
 made by carriers in August ; rural mail routes are gen- 
 erally driven in the morning. Pheasants (chicks par- 
 ticularly) seemingly lend to avoid wet vegetation by 
 loafing on and along rural roads at this time of year, 
 where they are easily visible. In Michigan, the \alidity 
 of summer brood counts as measures of jiopulation 
 changes from year to year was shown by direct correla- 
 tion of brood counts by rural mail carriers with esti- 
 mates of the state-wide kill of cocks diu'ing subseciuent 
 hunting seasons (MacMullan 196(h 106-14) . 
 
 The factors listed above unquestionably influenced 
 the reliabilitv of counts of pheasants by rural mail car- 
 
 Table 2. — Miles driven and adult pheasants reported by rural mail carriers in 76 counties of Illinois, 1957 and 1958. 
 
 1957 1958 
 
 Category February April August January April August Total 
 
 Miles driven 234,295 190,775 209,330 253,0.55 253,685 251,405 1, 392, .5.38 
 
 Cocks observed 3,972 7,247 1,137 12,171 10,298 1,352 36,177 
 
 Urns ob.served 10,361 9,162 2,4<il 25,622 9,282 2,482 59,371 
 
 liens per cock 2.6 1.3 2.2 2,1 0.9 1.8 1.6 
 
 Cocks p<r 100 miles 1.7 3.8 0.5 4.8 4.0 0.5 2.6 
 
 Hens per 100 miles 4.4 4.8 1.2 10,1 3.7 1.0 4.3 
 
 Pheasants per 100 miles 6.1 8.6 1.7* 14.9 7.7 l.Sf 6.9 
 
 • In additiDii lo adult nhrasanis, 6,7(14 chickj were observed in August, I9.'>7. If llicsc chiclu were included in the counts, the number of pheasants 
 ob.sprvcd per I'H) iniU*!, would be 4.9. 
 
 t In addition to adult pheasants, 7,414 chicks were observed in August, 1958. If theM chiclu were included in the counts, the number of pheasants 
 observed per KJO miles would be 4.5. 
 
Fig. 2. — Distribution and abvindancc of pheasants in Illi- 
 nois as mapped by townships fioni data obtained thioii!;h a 
 rural mail carrier census, February, 1957. Every county in the 
 state was included in the February, lO.")?, census. Pheasants 
 were not reported in 28 southern counties of Illinois; of these 
 28 counties, only Edwards and Wabash were included in sub- 
 sequent censuses, figs. 3-7. 
 
 PHEASANTS PER 100 MILES 
 
 IHH 100.1 * 
 
 I'.'.'tj 50.1 ■ 100.0 
 
 L' -. I 10.1 50.0 
 
 1^;^ u 10.0 
 
 &'^^lil%J 0.1 ■ 1.0 
 
 ^__^ 0.0 
 
 r~ ) UNfltPORrEO 
 
Fig. 3. — Distribution and abundance of pheasants in Illi- 
 nois as mapped by townships from data obtained through a 
 rural mail rarrier census, January, 1958. 
 
 PHEASANTS PER 100 MILES 
 ^HB lOOl* 
 
 501-100 
 
 10 1-50 
 
 ^^ 11-100 
 
 C'l'X'X':-! 1'l 
 
 00 
 UNREPORTED 
 
Fig. 4. — Distribution and abundance of pheasants in Illi- 
 nois as mapped by townships from data obtained through a 
 rural mail carrier census, April, 1957. 
 
 PHEASANTS PER 100 MILES 
 
 
 501-100.0 
 
 V////A 
 h:.v.M.:| 
 
 1,1-100 
 0.1-10 
 00 
 
 1 1 
 
 UNREPORTED 
 
Fig. 5. — Distribution and abundanrc of phrasants in Illi- 
 nois as mapprd by townships from data obtained throuKh a 
 rural mail carrier census, April, 19.58. 
 
 PHEASANTS PER 100 MILES 
 HIH 100 1 • 
 
 ^_^^ 501-100 
 
 iii'-.inl 10 1-50 
 
 ^^^ II-IOO 
 
 ^•-•-•-•-'-•-■^ O.I-I.O 
 
 00 
 I I UNREPORTED 
 
Fig. 6. — Distribution and abundance of pheasants in Illi- 
 nois as mapped by townships from data obtained through a 
 rural mail earner census, August, 1957. 
 
 Pheasants 
 
 PER 100 MILES 
 
 ^■B 
 
 lOO.i* 
 
 Ei^a 
 
 50.1 ■ 100.0 
 
 B^ 
 
 10.1-50.0 
 
 ^^; 
 
 I.I -10.0 
 
 m-J:::^ 
 
 0.1 1.0 
 
 ^S^ 
 
 0.0 
 
 CZZl 
 
 UNREPORTED 
 
 10 
 
Fig. 7. — Distribution and abundanrr of phrasants in Illi- 
 nois as mapped by townships from data obtained throui^h a 
 rural mail carrier census, August, 1958. 
 
 PHEASANTS PER 100 MILES 
 
 BWB looi* 
 
 L'l't'i'j 501-100 
 
 >•■".;, :| 10 1-500 
 
 t^M'M I, .100 
 
 ^•-■'•-•-■'•'•i l-l 
 
 00 
 I I UNREPORTED 
 
 11 
 
Fie 8 — Distribution and abundancr of pheasants in Illi- 
 nois as^iiappcd by townships from data obtained through rural 
 mail carrier censuses, April, 1957 and lOfiB. 
 
 PHEASANTS PER 100 MILES 
 
 [•■■■•■•J 501-100 
 
 L:. . I 10 1-50 
 
 VZSZA n 100 
 ^»ffl:B^ Olio 
 
 00 
 I I UNREPORTED 
 
 12 
 
licrs in Illinois for small areas (townships) and for any 
 one season (winter, spring, or summer). However, be- 
 cause the variable factors did not difTer greatly during 
 the 2 years of the censuses, they are regarded as having 
 little influence on the reliability of the population trends 
 that are presented for the Illinois pheasant range as a 
 whole. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE DATA 
 
 The range of the pheasant in Illinois, as mapped 
 by Wagner & Resadny (1958:5). is part of a more or 
 less continuous belt of wild populations extending from 
 southeastern Wisconsin through northeastern and east- 
 central Illinois, northern Indiana, southern Michigan, 
 and eastward into Ohio and Pennsylvania, fig. 9. From 
 Illinois eastward to the Atlantic Coast, the approximate 
 southern limit of the range as reported by ^'eatter 
 (1953:7) is marked by the 40th parallel; the 40th par- 
 allel can be located in fig. 9 by extending the Kansas- 
 Nebraska line eastward. Most of the range occupied by 
 pheasants in Illinois is north of the 40th parallel, but 
 some pheasants are found south of this line, principally 
 in Champaign, Douglas, Vermilion, and Edgar counties. 
 
 Robertson (1958:2-5) traced the early introduction 
 of pheasants by private individuals in Illinois back to 
 1890 and reported that pheasants were first distributed 
 In the state by the Illinois Game Commission (now Illi- 
 nois Department of Conservation) in 1906. The early 
 optimism of the Illinois legislature in opening the first 
 hunting season for pheasants in 1915 reflected the grow- 
 ing availability of the bird either from game-farm re- 
 leased pheasants or localized wild populations. 
 
 The first map of the distribution of pheasants in 
 Illinois and .several other north-central states was com- 
 piled by Leopold (19.31:106) from data accumulated 
 during 1928 and 1929. A reproduction of the Illinois 
 portion of this map, modified to show only the general 
 distribution of pheasants, is presented in fig. 10. It is 
 apparent from Leopold's map that the earliest establish- 
 ment of pheasants on a large scale in Illinois occurred 
 
 ABUNDANCE RATING 
 
 ^^M EXCELLENT L'.'.'.'.-l FAIR 
 
 V-'y-'i GOOD I I POOR OR NONE 
 
 Fig. 9. — -Generalized map of the distribution and relative 
 abundance of pheasants in the north-central states in the 19,5n's 
 (after Wagner & Besadny 1958; 5). 
 
 OlSTRIBUTrON Of PHEASANTS 
 1929 
 
 ■mm ESTABLISHEO RANGE 
 irm SCATTEHING OR 
 
 INDETERMINATE 
 
 RANGE 
 
 Fig. 10. — Distribution 
 and abundance of pheasants 
 in Illinoi.s, 1929 (modified 
 from Leopold 1931:106). 
 
 COCKS KILLED PER HUNTER 
 1937 
 
 Fig. 11. — ■ Distribution 
 and abundance of pheasants 
 in Illinois as mapped from 
 data obtained from license- 
 stub questionnaires distrib- 
 uted to hunters during the 
 1937 hunting season (after 
 Carl O. Mohr unpublished 
 
 13 
 
COGKS KILLED PER HUNTER 
 1946 
 
 t'-*-'-1 21 AND OVER 
 llllllllllll I.I TO 2 
 
 rrrz^ 01 TO I 
 
 I I LESS THAN 
 
 Fig. 12. — Distribution 
 and abundance of pheasants 
 in Illinois as indicated by 
 posthunting season question- 
 naires for the 1948 hunting 
 season (after Robertson 
 1958:9). 
 
 HARVEST OF COCK PHEAS 
 1950 
 
 flV^ BEST 
 
 AVERAGE 
 
 LIGHT f^^'' — V-"- 
 
 FEW OR NONE 
 
 'iim^m 
 
 Fig. 13. — Distribution ' 
 and abundance of pheasants 
 in Illinois as mapped from 
 data obtained from license- 
 stub questionnaires distrib- 
 uted to hunters during the 
 1950 hunting season (after 
 Marquardt & Scott 1952: 
 5). 
 
 in the northeastern counties in the 1920's. That pheas- 
 ants were not common during the 1920's in the area 
 described by Leopold as "scattering" or "indeterminate" 
 range was substantiated by Robertson (1958:10), who 
 cited the records of amateur ornithologists active in east- 
 central Illinois at that time. 
 
 Pheasants became increasingly common in eas;- 
 central Illinois during the early 1930's. Yeatter [in 
 Robertson 1958:10) indicated that pheasants were 
 "relatively well established" in Champaign and adja- 
 cent counties by 1934. Mohr's data (unpublished) 
 based on the number of cocks killed per hunter per 
 county indicated that less than 15 per cent of the 
 hunters residing in the southern and western counties 
 of Illinois were successful in bagging at least one cock 
 pheasant each in 1937, whereas 58-68 per cent of the 
 hunters residing in certain counties of northeastern and 
 east-central Illinois bagged at least one cock each dur- 
 ing the same hunting season. Mohr's map of the pheas- 
 ant kill, fig. 11, shows some westward and southward 
 extension of the pheasant range and the establishment 
 of a center of abundance in Ford and Livingston 
 counties of east-central Illinois. 
 
 Maps prepared by Robertson (1958:9) for 1948, 
 fig. 12, and by Marquardt & Scott (1952:5) for 1950, 
 fig. 13, from hunters' reports show patterns of distribu- 
 tion of pheasants somewhat similar to those indicated 
 by Leopold and Mohr, but the centers of abundance in 
 northeastern and east-central Illinois show better de- 
 lineation than the earlier maps. They show the southern 
 and the central western counties of the state still unoccu- 
 pied by pheasants and indicate the existence of a small 
 center of abundance of birds in Stephenson Coimty of 
 northwestern Illinois, a population not evident on 
 Mohr's 1937 map. 
 
 In Illinois, the six roadside counts by rural mail 
 carriers in 1957 and 1958 were averaged in order to 
 rank 74 of the state's 102 coimties with respect to their 
 relative abundance of pheasants. The ranking was 
 based on the mean number of pheasants observed per 
 100 miles in each county during the six mail carrier 
 censuses, fig. 14. Livingston County ranked highest 
 with 75.2 pheasants per 100 miles. No piieasants were 
 observed in 28 southern counties of the state during the 
 February, 1957, census, and these counties were classed 
 as nonphcasant range. However, pheasants were re- 
 leased ('x]3enmentally in Wabash and Edwards counties 
 sulisetiuent to the Fobruarv, 1957, census. Between 30 
 and 40 per cent of all ])heasants reported during each 
 of the six roadside counts were observed in Ford and 
 Livingston counties. 
 
 .\ composite map basetl on the data collected by 
 iiual mail carriers in Illinois during the breeding sea- 
 sons in .\i)ril, 1957 and 1958, is presented in fig. 8: 
 these April coimts best represent the distribution and 
 abundance of the population of pheasants available for 
 reproduction. The iiighest counts reported by nnal mail 
 carriers weie fioni townsliips in soulheaslern Livingston 
 
 14 
 
ABUNDANCE OF PHEASANTS 
 1957.68 
 
 COUNTY RANK 
 
 MEAN NUMBER OF PHEASANTS 
 
 PER 100 MILES 
 
 Fig. 14. — Abundance v-, 
 of pheasants in Illinois by 
 counties. Counties are 
 ranked in order of abun- 
 dance of pheasants. Data 
 were obtained from six rural 
 mail carrier censuses con- 
 ducted in 1957 and 1958. 
 
 INDICES OF PHEASANT 
 ABUNDANCE 
 1957-1960 
 
 Q-LOCATION OF CENSUS ROUTE 
 
 Key (Eiomple: Chompolgn Counly) 
 16= 1957 
 38. 1958 
 34= 1969 
 20= I960 
 
 Fig. 15. — Distribution 
 and abundance of pheasants 
 in selected Illinois census 
 areas as indicated by popu- 
 lation indices based on win- 
 ter sex ratios and spring 
 counts of cock calls, 1957- 
 1960 (after William L. 
 Preno unpublished). Index 
 numbers for each census 
 area read from top to bot- 
 tom, 1957 through 1960. 
 
 County and adjacent portions of Ford County. Detailed 
 ecological studies on a township-sized study area in this 
 region indicated that pheasants numbered 63, 80, and 
 88 birds per square mile in January, 1957 and 1958, 
 and February, 1960, respectively. Pheasants declined in 
 numbers in all directions from the nucleus of abundance 
 in Ford and Livingston counties; this decline was most 
 apparent to the southwest. 
 
 The rural mail carrier counts showed some po]jula- 
 tions of pheasants, usually of low levels, outside the 
 boundaries of the contiguous range, fig. 8. Some of 
 these outlying populations have persisted for many years. 
 One such population, greater in numbers and more per- 
 sistent than other outlying populations, is located in 
 Logan and Tazewell counties. A small population of 
 pheasants has existed in Bond County, about 40 miles 
 east of St. Louis, for many years, and most of the 
 township distribution maps in this report indicate the 
 presence of an isolated population of pheasants where 
 Hancock, Henderson, McDonough, and Warren coun- 
 ties in western Illinois come into close pro.ximity. 'I'he 
 extent to which these small, persistent populations arc 
 maintained through periodic releases of pheasants by 
 private individuals or agencies is not known. Some ol 
 the pheasants observed by rural mail carriers in Cum- 
 berland, and probably all of the pheasants reported in 
 Edwards and Wabash counties, which are south of the 
 contiguous range currently occupied by pheasants in 
 
 MEAN NUMBER 
 OF COCKS KILLED 
 PER SQUARE MILE 
 1957-1959 
 
 ^■1 610-100 
 
 61 0-60.0 
 
 410-60,0 
 
 210-400 
 
 10-20 
 
 LESS THAN 
 
 OR NONE 
 
 Fig. 16. — Distribution I 
 and abundance of pheasants 
 in Illinois as mapped from 
 data obtained from post- 
 hunting season question- 
 Mains distributed to hunters 
 during the 1957, 1958, and 
 1959 hunting seasons (aft'T 
 William L. Preno unpub- 
 lished). 
 
 15 
 
Illinois, were birds liberated on experimental areas by 
 the Illinois Natural History Survey and the Illinois De- 
 partment of Conservation, or progeny of these birds. 
 
 Abundance data based on winter sex ratios and 
 spring counts of cock calls during the 4-year period, 
 1957-1960, fig. 15, substantiate fairly well the distribu- 
 tional and abundance data reported by rural mail 
 carriers, fig. 8. The highest population indices were in 
 Ford and Livingston counties, a finding that supports 
 other observations that the center of greatest abundance 
 of pheasants in Illinois is located in this east-central 
 area. 
 
 Preno's estimates of the kill of cocks per square mile 
 for the 3-year period, 1957-1959, estimates based on 
 postcard questionnaires, appear to be high, fig. 16. The 
 percentages of cocks harvested on a township-sized area 
 in Ford County, near the junction of Livingston and 
 McLean counties, during the same 3 years were calcu- 
 lated to be 20, 57, and 66 per cent, respectively: these 
 data were based on changes between the prehunt and 
 posthunt sex ratios (no allowances were made for illegal 
 kill of hens). Harvest statistics by individual counties, 
 on which fig. 16 is based, show a kill of 62, 129, and 93 
 cocks per square mile in Ford County for 1957, 1958. 
 and 1959, respectively. The application of the number 
 representing the proportion of cocks harvested, as indi- 
 cated by changes in sex ratios, to the estimated kill of 
 
 cocks per square mile would yield prehunt estimates of 
 310, 226. and 140 cocks per square mile. However, the 
 prehimt population on the township area mentioned 
 above was estimated to be 47 cocks per square mile in 
 November. 1957. and the abundance of pheasants in thb 
 township is considered to be as high as. or nearly as high 
 as, that in the remainder of Ford County, fig. 8. Even 
 though most county estimates of the kill of cocks are 
 probably too high, these kill statistics tend to confirm 
 the patterns of distribution and abundance previously 
 presented in this report. 
 
 SUMMARY 
 
 Pheasants first established self-maintaining popula- 
 tions in several northeastern counties of Illinois during 
 the 1920's. They spread westward and southward and 
 had established a center of abundance in Livingston and 
 Ford counties in east-central Illinois by the late 1930's, 
 a center that has persisted through the 1940's and 
 1950's. Small areas of abundance existed in northeastern 
 Illinois and in Stephenson Countv- of northwestern Illi- 
 nois in the late 1940's; some of these areas of abundance 
 have persisted but at lower population levels. Pheasants 
 have never established self-maintaining populations in 
 the central western and southern counties of Illinois, 
 except in a few small areas where populations exist at 
 low levels of abundance. 
 
 LITERATURE CITED 
 
 Aldrich, John W., and Allen J. Duvall 
 
 1955. Distribution of American gallinaceous game birds. 
 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Serv. Circ. 34. 30 pp. 
 
 Carney, Samuel M., and George A. Petrides 
 
 1957. Analysis of variation among participants in pheasant 
 cock-crowing censuses. Jour. Wildlife Me;t. 21(4): 
 392-7. 
 
 Greeley, Frederick 
 
 1960. The ring-necked pheasant. Pp. 28 9 in .^tlas of Illi- 
 nois resources, Sec. 3: Forest, wildlife, and recrea- 
 tional resources. Division of Industrial Planning and 
 Development, Illinois Department of Registration 
 and Education, Springfield. 48 pp. 
 
 Kimball, James W. 
 
 1949. The crowing count pheasant census. Jour. Wildlife 
 Mgt. 13(l):101-20. 
 
 Kimball, James W., Edward L. Kozicky, and Bernard A. Nelson 
 
 1956. Pheasants of the plains and prairies. Pp. 204 63 in 
 Pheasants in North .Aiiicrira ( Durward L. .Mien, 
 Editor). Stackpole Co., Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 
 and Wildlife Management Institute, Washington, 
 D. c;. 490 pp. 
 
 Kozicky, F.dward L. 
 
 1952. Variations in two spring indices of male ring-necked 
 pheasant populations. Jour. Wildlife Mgt. 16(4): 
 429 37. 
 
 Leopold, Aide 
 
 1931. Report on a game survey of the North Central states. 
 Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' In- 
 stitute, Madison, Wisconsin. 299 pp. 
 
 MacMullan, Ralph A. 
 
 1960. Michigan pheasant populations. Game Division Re- 
 port 2277. Michigan Department of Conservation, 
 Lansing. 169 pp. 
 
 Marquardt, William C, and Thomas G. Scott 
 
 1952. It's in the bag. 111. Wildlife 7(2):4-5. 
 
 McCabe, Robert A., Ralph A. MacMullan, 
 and Eugene H. Dustman 
 
 1956. Ringneck pheasants in the Great Lakes region. Pp. 
 264-356 in Pheasants in North .\merica (Durward 
 L. .'\llen, Editor). Stackpole Co., Harrisburg, Penn- 
 sylvania, and Wildlife Management Institute, W.ish- 
 in<_;ton, D. C. 490 pp. 
 
 Robertson, William B., Jr. 
 
 1958. Investigations of ring-necked pheasants in Illinois 
 111. Dept. Cons. Tech^ Bui. 1. 137 pp. 
 
 Wagner, Fred H., and C. D. Bcsadny 
 
 1958. Factors in Wisconsin pheasant production. Wis. 
 Cons. Bui. 23(12):3-I3. 
 
 Walcott, Frederic C. 
 
 1945. Historical introduction. Pp. 1-5 in The ring-necked 
 pheasant and its management in North .\mrrica 
 (W. L. Me.Vtee, Editor). .Vmcrican W'ildlife Insti- 
 tute, Washington, D. C. 320 pp. 
 
 Ycalter, Ralph E. 
 
 1943. The prairie chicken in Illinois. III. Nat. Hist. Sur\'. 
 Bui. 22(41:377-416. 
 
 1953. Air temperature affects pheasant range. III. Wildlife 
 9(l):[6-7]. 
 
 16 
 
H : h'--:v» •'?■■ liW ', 
 
 w^^:.'- 
 
 ■;•>: .'■•,v-,: 
 
 
 V :;'■:,' ::;!:i,v.;,.] 
 
 '• :-i 
 
 ■: ■!■ >j 
 
 
 "^.v^m 
 
 ■-•.-.'■4-.-v-.> 
 
 ■.'■:■-• t« ;■) 
 
 :"i^».(;:;