By Connie Mertz
They may have once called Montana home, but now several hundred wild pheasants reside on more than 50,000 acres in Columbia, Montour and Northumberland counties. A total of 1,000 pheasants have been released over a three-year period, including 300 birds this past winter.
“The reason why this area (referred to as the Wild Pheasant Restoration Area) was selected by Pheasants Forever was because of all the habitat on the ground. Farmers are enrolled in USDA conservation programs, especially CREP (Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program), which puts large areas of undisturbed grassland habitat on the ground. Undisturbed grassland habitat is critical to pheasants for safe nesting cover,” explained Colleen DeLong, wildlife biologist for the Central Susquehanna Wild Pheasant Restoration project.
Funded by The Mellon Foundation, Pheasant Forever-Central Susquehanna Chapter and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the ultimate goal of the pheasant project is to restore a sustainable population of wild ring-necked pheasants which can eventually be hunted.
DeLong, along with Megan Rake, assistant wildlife biologist, spends considerable time monitoring the birds in the WPRA. It is the hens that tend to receive most of the attention, since they will determine natural reproduction success.
“The hens are equipped with radio telemetry to monitor survival and determine nesting success,” DeLong stated. The monitoring is done several times a week.
Crowing counts are once a week, through April and May, to determine the number of crowing males. Flushing surveys are done in late winter, during the pre-nesting season to determine the sex ratio going into the nesting season.
Brood surveys are also very valuable, and for this data, DeLong and Rake rely on release site landowners and community residents. “Our first brood report this year came on April 28 from the Greenwood Valley. The landowner said there was a hen and at least 12 chicks. The chicks were only about 1.5 inches tall. They must have just hatched when he saw them,” she said.
Current data is encouraging. “They are surviving and reproducing. Early data shows that they are increasing their numbers and expanding to new farms so far. What we don’t yet is ‘are the survivors enough to regrow a sustainable wild population’. The next four years of monitoring will tell us a lot more,” she said.
Farmers in the WPRA are also a great asset to the project. “We could not do this without the farmers and other landowners who let us use their land for release sites,” DeLong said with gratitude. “Farmers are the key to the project’s success.”
Hearing a rooster’s cackle in the early morning or seeing young pheasant chicks seems to delight everyone in or near the WPRA. “Many people have told me they don’t care if they ever get to hunt pheasants again. They are just happy to see them back and hope they can survive and thrive.”
Some farmers are also supporting the project by either delaying the mowing of fields or mowing around nests in hay fields. They also avoid mowing field edges, roadsides and grassed waterways until after July 31.
“You never know where a pheasant might nest,” she said. “Last year, one of our radio-collared hens nested successfully in a grassed waterway because the farmer did not mow it until well after she was off her nest with 11 chicks! Recreational mowing is one thing that can be very harmful to pheasants and many other species of wildlife, like rabbits and grassland songbirds.”
When mowing does occur during nesting season, it can destroy the hen, nest and chicks. “Once a hen starts incubating her eggs, she will not flush off her nest when the mower comes through. Unfortunately, hens are killed because they are good mothers and won’t leave their nests,” she said.
While it is too early to determine the success of this project, there are reasons to be optimistic. One farmer reported seeing 70 birds on his farm this past winter. Another surprise came when 20 pheasants flushed from a farm a few miles away from the release sight. “They moved to that farm themselves,” DeLong said excitedly.
At its April meeting, the Pennsylvania Game Commission passed regulations for WPRAs in the state. Currently, two other areas are also included; namely, Pike Run in Washington County, Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) 2A and WMU 2C in Somerset County.
One of the regulations is no release of pen-raised birds in the WPRA’s. “The wild birds have to grow this population on their own. We need the birds to maintain their wild gene pool so they have the best chance at survival,” she explained.
Another regulation is that dog training is prohibited from the end of the late small game season in February through July 31.
Obviously, no hunting will be allowed in the WPRAs until a sustainable population is established. “We realize local hunters are making significant sacrifices for the next few years to get wild pheasants back, and we appreciate everyone’s patience. If the restoration projects are given time and work, hunters will be able to hunt wild pheasants in Pennsylvania for the first time in decades. They will also be able to hunt stocked, pen-raised pheasants on areas outside of the WPRAs. It’ll be the best of both worlds, really. It’ll change pheasant hunting in Pennsylvania,” DeLong said optimistically.
To report pheasant sightings in or near the Central Susquehanna WPRA, call 259-0348 or 925-5870.
To learn about the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Pheasant Management Plan, go to www.pgc.state.pa.us and type “Pheasant Management Plan” in the search box.
-- Connie Mertz is a hunter and nature enthusiast from Danville. Contact her at: owcam@verizon.net.
