Upland Game Bird Management Account Projects

This study involves field operations, data collection, and analytical approaches aimed at answering basic questions regarding upland game bird populations. On-the-ground monitoring will be carried out during the spring and summer seasons with less frequent monitoring during fall and winter.

The Primary study objectives include:

• Evaluate field methodology for capturing marking and monitoring individual pheasants using VHF telemetry.
• Evaluate methodology for estimating population vital rates (e.g., nest survival).
• Estimate nesting survival of pheasants and identify factors that influence survival probabilities.
• Estimate brood survival of pheasants and identify factors that influence survival probabilities.
• Identify movement patterns using GPS technology.
• Identify and analyze food habits for pheasants during the brood rearing period.
• Conduct preliminary invertebrate availability studies in locations where mosquito abatement, seasonal flooding and other management practices differ.
• Evaluate pheasant use of intensively managed habitats for brood rearing.
• Quantify territorial turkey behavior and interactions between turkey and pheasant using audio playbacks of crowing pheasant.

• Project Proposal (PDF)
• 2016 Pheasant Project Interim Report - April (PDF)
• 2016 Pheasant Project Interim Report - June (PDF)
• 2017 Pheasant Project Interim Report - June (PDF)
• 2019 Pheasant Project Final Report: Five-Year Summary, 2013-2017 (PDF)