Pheasant Crowing Counts Completed

[marine_man]

From the GNF:

Pheasant Crowing Counts Completed

North Dakota’s spring pheasant crowing count survey revealed a 6 percent decrease statewide compared to last year, according to Stan Kohn, upland game management supervisor for the state Game and Fish Department.

The number of crows heard in the northwest was down 16 percent from 2009, while counts in the southwest and southeast were relatively unchanged from last year. In the northeast where there are fewer birds, the counts decreased 10 percent.

“This past winter did not appear to have a role in the lower crowing counts,” Kohn said. “It is probably the result of a lower number of adult birds surviving the winter of 2008-09, coupled with poor production in spring 2009 because of cool, wet weather at the time of the hatch, resulting in chick mortality and fewer young entering the population last fall.”

Kohn said the good news from this spring is the quality of cover will benefit birds and broods of all upland species. “Pheasants are finding nesting and brooding cover in fair quantity and great quality,” he added. “Native, warm season plants are doing extremely well and one would anticipate a good number of insects and eventually grasshoppers to become available with this type of habitat component.”

In addition, the early June weather has been better than the last two springs. “Recent downpours in some areas may jeopardize broods in some localized spots, but we have not experienced cool temperatures associated with these showers,” Kohn said. “I think production should be much better than in 2008 and 2009.”

Even though the crowing count survey provides good trend data on the status of roosters, Kohn said it does not provide information on the status of the adult hen population. “Hens are the segment of the population that determines the fall population,” he said. “In spring 2009, field personnel noted the low number of hens with roosters (1-2 hens per rooster) indicating the hen population might be smaller than usual. This spring there were no such observations reported.”

Spring crowing count data has little to do with predicting the fall population. It does not measure population density, but is an indicator of the spring rooster population based on a trend of number of crows heard. Brood surveys, which begin in mid-July and are completed by September, provide an indicator of the summer’s pheasant production and provide insight into what to expect for a fall pheasant population.

Pheasant crowing counts are conducted each spring throughout North Dakota. Observers drive specified 20-mile routes, stopping at predetermined intervals, and counting the number of pheasant roosters heard crowing over a two-minute period during the stop. The number of pheasant crows heard is compared to previous years’ data.

[LMITOUT]

Survey shows North Dakota flush with pheasants

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Near-ideal conditions for ring-neck pheasants in North Dakota means more birds than last year - though the healthy habitat will be a bigger challenge for hunters, a state Game and Fish Department official says.

"There is some really nice cover out there, but it means guys are going to have to work a little harder and good dogs are going to be real handy this year," said Stan Kohn, upland game management supervisor for the agency.

North Dakota's pheasant population is up an estimated 34 percent from last year, one of the more dismal years in a decade. The estimate, released Monday, is based on roadside brood counts in late July and August. The survey counted 11.3 broods per 100 miles, up from nine last year, Kohn said. The number of pheasants per 100 miles was 92, up from 69 last year, he said.

The season opens Oct. 9 and runs through Jan. 2, 2011. State officials say the opening of pheasant season likely brings in more visitors to North Dakota than any other event during a one-or two-week period. North Dakota has had robust pheasant populations for most of the past decade, but a pair of harsh winters followed by wet springs have hurt numbers. And fewer pheasants means fewer hunters afield.

Hunters killed 651,778 roosters last year, down from 778,000 in 2008 and the more than 900,000 birds bagged in 2007, Kohn said. The number of hunters dropped from about 108,000 to 88,400 during that time, he said.

Wildfire officials counted 204 pheasants and 24 broods per 100 miles in 2007, the highest level in more than 60 years. While far behind those numbers, this year's population is more than double the 38 birds counted per 100 miles in 1980.

Bird counters slowly drive selected routes across the state watching for adult pheasants and their young drawn to roads to eat grit that helps the birds' digestion.

Kohn said this year's count is likely conservative because many birds may have been camouflaged by better-than-normal vegetation along roadsides and beyond.

"There was restricted visibility - chances are things might be better than we suggest," Kohn said. "There is some really nice cover out there and I'm sure there are more birds out there but they're hard to see."

Lush cover and better weather this spring and summer likely increased nesting success and chick survival, which means more birds for hunters to bag this fall, he said.