Improving habitats for ring-necked pheasants in Missouri

KEARNEY, Mo. – Missouri landowners can take practical steps to improve habitat for ring-necked pheasants, whose populations have declined across the Midwest due to habitat loss and changing land use.

“Providing the right types of habitat for nesting, brood-rearing and winter cover is essential for pheasant survival and reproduction,” says Robert Pierce, University of Missouri Extension state wildlife and fisheries specialist.

A new MU Extension publication, developed in partnership with Missouri Pheasants and Quail Forever, outlines science-based strategies to support pheasant populations. Ecology and Management of Ring-Necked Pheasants in Missouri is available for free download.

“The sight of pheasants in grasslands and crop fields in northern Missouri is becoming less common,” says MU Extension horticulture specialist Todd Higgins. “The decline in the pheasant population is not just a Missouri problem. It is a problem across their range throughout the Midwest.”

Pheasants range in Missouri

Ring-necked pheasants range throughout at least 32 Missouri counties, mostly north of the Missouri River and near the Iowa border, Pierce says.

Higgins says there are three main reasons for declining populations:

• Intensive row crop production with limited grassland cover.
• Declining enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).
• Rural development replacing farmland.

Will Robinson, senior farm bill biologist with Missouri Pheasants and Quail Forever, offers these tips:

Implement wildlife-friendly practices across the farm

Grassland birds need the right types of grasslands for cover when nesting and raising chicks, especially from May to July. Grasslands, particularly those composed of a mix of native warm-season grasses and forbs, provide important nesting and brood cover.

Native warm-season grasses also are an important livestock forage. Pheasants often find nesting and brood cover in grazing systems, hayfields, CRP fields or along fencerows and ditch banks.

Grasslands intermixed with grain crops such as corn, soybeans, milo, winter wheat and cover crops provide excellent nesting, brood-cover and food sources. Avoid using tall fescue over large areas, as this sod-forming grass provides poor wildlife habitat. Research suggests that set-aside programs like CRP improve habitat for pheasants. Female pheasants use CRP grasslands for nesting and brood habitat.

Work with neighboring landowners to expand these habitats over larger areas.

Minimize herbicide use in field borders

Avoid chemical control of weeds in field borders and along fence lines. This early successional habitat provides food sources for pheasants as well as areas for nesting, brood rearing and escape cover.

Maintain fencerows and field borders

Where practical, leave natural vegetation along fences and field edges. Fence lines often are composed of grasses, forbs and shrubs, which provide cover beneficial for pheasants and a variety of other wildlife. Shrub thickets offer excellent habitats for pheasants and are used throughout the year.

Refrain from recreational mowing and clean less

Delay mowing roadsides, ditch banks and field edges until after mid-July if possible. The cover provided is important for nesting. Clean fencerows give the farm a neat appearance, but letting vegetation grow along these field edges provides escape cover and food for many wildlife species.

Instead, increase plant diversity and improve wildlife habitat in field borders by disking the soil, using prescribe fire to promote the growth of native warm-season grasses and forbs, and thinning or harvesting timber in woodlands.

Delay mechanical clipping or grazing of cool-season grass until after Aug. 1.

More information

• Ecology and Management of Ring-Necked Pheasants in Missouri, MU Extension publication.
• Pheasant, Missouri Department of Conservation.
• Missouri Pheasants and Quail Forever.

Photo

Pheasants. A new MU Extension guide has information to help landowners improve habitats for ring-necked pheasants in Missouri. Photo by Josh Marshall, Missouri Pheasants and Quail Forever.