PA to get wild pheasants from SDakota
05-02-2005, 08:24 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2004
Location:
Posts: 63
PA to get wild pheasants from SDakota
Pennsylvania swaps wild turkeys
for South Dakota pheasants
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Christian Berg
The Associated Press
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A groundbreaking effort to restore ring-necked pheasants in Pennsylvania will take flight later this month, when 200 wild birds from South Dakota are released in Washington County.
After a 1,300-mile eastward journey, the pheasants will be given a new home on 30,000 acres of private property in the Pike Run watershed, where a coalition of landowners, conservation groups and government agencies have spent 10 years and several million dollars creating prime habitat for the colorful game birds.
"Those folks have worked really hard, so they deserve a chance to see if the pheasants will take," said Game Commissioner Roxane Palone of Greene County. "Since the habitat is in place, that will make our chances of success much greater."
The pheasants released this month represent the first installment of a three-year restoration effort. Plans call for an additional 200 wild ring-necks to be released there in 2006 and 2007.
The birds are being captured by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks. In exchange, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has agreed to provide as many as 150 wild turkeys to South Dakota.
The trade benefits both states, since South Dakota has millions of wild pheasants but wants to boost its turkey population. Pennsylvania, meanwhile, has very few wild pheasants but a burgeoning wild turkey population currently estimated at more than 340,000 birds.
If the South Dakota pheasants survive long enough to breed and establish a self-sustaining population in the Pike Run area, it***‚¬*„*s possible similar efforts could occur across Pennsylvania.
"I think we***‚¬*„*re all hopeful that this would be the first step in a larger project," said David Putnam, a biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service***‚¬*„*s Pennsylvania field office in State College.
Ring-necked pheasants, so named for the ring of white feathers found on the necks of male birds, are native to Asia and were introduced to North America as a game bird in the late 1800s.
Pheasants once thrived in agricultural areas across Pennsylvania. Old-time Lehigh Valley hunters still talk about the days when wild pheasants were plentiful and it was easy to head into a cornfield after school and bag a couple of cockbirds before dinner.
The wild pheasant population in Pennsylvania peaked at several million birds in the early 1970s, when hunters killed about 1.3 million annually.
Sadly, those days are long gone. Wild pheasant populations have steadily declined since and today can be found in only a few isolated areas.
Biologists blame the birds***‚¬*„* demise on a rapid loss of habitat and modern farming practices that have eliminated much of the brushy cover pheasants need for nesting and protection from predators.
Contemporary pheasant hunting in Pennsylvania is strictly a put-and-take affair created by the annual stocking of some 200,000 pen-raised birds reared by the Game Commission. Despite those stockings ***‚¬*€ which cost more than $3 million ***‚¬*€ pen-raised pheasants that manage to elude hunters and natural predators such as hawks and foxes have proven unable to breed successfully enough to establish self-sustaining populations.
In addition to the annual hunting-related stockings, the commission has made several unsuccessful attempts to re-establish pheasants on a permanent basis. The most recent effort occurred from 1992-95, when the agency stocked thousands of ring-necked and Sichuan pheasants at six protected sites across the state.
Despite past failures, Putnam said there are two big reasons why the current pheasant restoration effort stands an excellent chance of success. The first is habitat quality.
"You can put the best birds out, and if you don***‚¬*„*t have good habitat, they***‚¬*„*re not going to make it," Putnam said. "But if you have habitat, you can expect good results."
The Pike Run pheasant restoration effort is a collaboration among the Fish and Wildlife Service, Pennsylvania Game Commission, California University of Pennsylvania, local landowners and the Tri-County Chapter of Pheasants Forever, a national conservation group dedicated to increasing pheasant populations through habitat enhancement.
Over the past decade, those organizations have turned the 30,000-acre pheasant-release area into high-quality habitat for pheasants and other grassland species. Improvements include the planting of warm-season grasses, creation of wetlands and riparian buffer areas along streams and special field-edge cuttings designed to create the kind of low, shrubby cover pheasants need to nest and escape from predators.
In addition to providing tremendous habitat, Putnam believes the stocking of truly wild pheasants is a major improvement over past efforts, which relied on pen-raised birds.
"The thing that***‚¬*„*s been missing in everything that***‚¬*„*s been done so far is wild pheasants," Putnam said. "You cannot get a population of wild birds from birds raised in captivity. Birds, once they go through captivity, will never regain the vigor of a wild population."
The commission experienced similar results with its wild turkey restoration efforts. Between 1930 and 1980, the agency produced more than 200,000 pen-raised turkeys for stocking across the state. However, it was only after the agency began trapping and transferring wild turkeys in 1960 that self-sustaining populations appeared in new areas.
"It never worked trying to get wild birds from game-farm birds," Putnam said. "Yet, there are numerous examples of entire states being repopulated by a handful of wild birds."
Once South Dakota officials capture the pheasants, representatives from Pheasants Forever and California University will travel there and drive the birds back to Pennsylvania. The goal is to release the birds here within 36 hours of being captured to minimize stress and time spent in captivity, Putnam said. The plan is to release three hen pheasants for every one cock in an effort to maximize breeding potential.
Researchers from California University have about 50 radio transmitters that will be attached to birds throughout the three-year stocking period to monitor their dispersal and survival rates. Information gathered from radio-tracking surveys will be used to gauge the program***‚¬*„*s effectiveness.
"It***‚¬*„*s been a long haul getting to this point, and we***‚¬*„*re very optimistic," said Jose Taracido, a California University wildlife conservation specialist and habitat coordinator for Tri-County Pheasants Forever.
"I know the habitat supports a lot of pen-reared quail we***‚¬*„*ve already put in there. So, if the dumb birds can make it, we***‚¬*„*re hopeful the wild birds can take off on their own."
for South Dakota pheasants
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Christian Berg
The Associated Press
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A groundbreaking effort to restore ring-necked pheasants in Pennsylvania will take flight later this month, when 200 wild birds from South Dakota are released in Washington County.
After a 1,300-mile eastward journey, the pheasants will be given a new home on 30,000 acres of private property in the Pike Run watershed, where a coalition of landowners, conservation groups and government agencies have spent 10 years and several million dollars creating prime habitat for the colorful game birds.
"Those folks have worked really hard, so they deserve a chance to see if the pheasants will take," said Game Commissioner Roxane Palone of Greene County. "Since the habitat is in place, that will make our chances of success much greater."
The pheasants released this month represent the first installment of a three-year restoration effort. Plans call for an additional 200 wild ring-necks to be released there in 2006 and 2007.
The birds are being captured by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks. In exchange, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has agreed to provide as many as 150 wild turkeys to South Dakota.
The trade benefits both states, since South Dakota has millions of wild pheasants but wants to boost its turkey population. Pennsylvania, meanwhile, has very few wild pheasants but a burgeoning wild turkey population currently estimated at more than 340,000 birds.
If the South Dakota pheasants survive long enough to breed and establish a self-sustaining population in the Pike Run area, it***‚¬*„*s possible similar efforts could occur across Pennsylvania.
"I think we***‚¬*„*re all hopeful that this would be the first step in a larger project," said David Putnam, a biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service***‚¬*„*s Pennsylvania field office in State College.
Ring-necked pheasants, so named for the ring of white feathers found on the necks of male birds, are native to Asia and were introduced to North America as a game bird in the late 1800s.
Pheasants once thrived in agricultural areas across Pennsylvania. Old-time Lehigh Valley hunters still talk about the days when wild pheasants were plentiful and it was easy to head into a cornfield after school and bag a couple of cockbirds before dinner.
The wild pheasant population in Pennsylvania peaked at several million birds in the early 1970s, when hunters killed about 1.3 million annually.
Sadly, those days are long gone. Wild pheasant populations have steadily declined since and today can be found in only a few isolated areas.
Biologists blame the birds***‚¬*„* demise on a rapid loss of habitat and modern farming practices that have eliminated much of the brushy cover pheasants need for nesting and protection from predators.
Contemporary pheasant hunting in Pennsylvania is strictly a put-and-take affair created by the annual stocking of some 200,000 pen-raised birds reared by the Game Commission. Despite those stockings ***‚¬*€ which cost more than $3 million ***‚¬*€ pen-raised pheasants that manage to elude hunters and natural predators such as hawks and foxes have proven unable to breed successfully enough to establish self-sustaining populations.
In addition to the annual hunting-related stockings, the commission has made several unsuccessful attempts to re-establish pheasants on a permanent basis. The most recent effort occurred from 1992-95, when the agency stocked thousands of ring-necked and Sichuan pheasants at six protected sites across the state.
Despite past failures, Putnam said there are two big reasons why the current pheasant restoration effort stands an excellent chance of success. The first is habitat quality.
"You can put the best birds out, and if you don***‚¬*„*t have good habitat, they***‚¬*„*re not going to make it," Putnam said. "But if you have habitat, you can expect good results."
The Pike Run pheasant restoration effort is a collaboration among the Fish and Wildlife Service, Pennsylvania Game Commission, California University of Pennsylvania, local landowners and the Tri-County Chapter of Pheasants Forever, a national conservation group dedicated to increasing pheasant populations through habitat enhancement.
Over the past decade, those organizations have turned the 30,000-acre pheasant-release area into high-quality habitat for pheasants and other grassland species. Improvements include the planting of warm-season grasses, creation of wetlands and riparian buffer areas along streams and special field-edge cuttings designed to create the kind of low, shrubby cover pheasants need to nest and escape from predators.
In addition to providing tremendous habitat, Putnam believes the stocking of truly wild pheasants is a major improvement over past efforts, which relied on pen-raised birds.
"The thing that***‚¬*„*s been missing in everything that***‚¬*„*s been done so far is wild pheasants," Putnam said. "You cannot get a population of wild birds from birds raised in captivity. Birds, once they go through captivity, will never regain the vigor of a wild population."
The commission experienced similar results with its wild turkey restoration efforts. Between 1930 and 1980, the agency produced more than 200,000 pen-raised turkeys for stocking across the state. However, it was only after the agency began trapping and transferring wild turkeys in 1960 that self-sustaining populations appeared in new areas.
"It never worked trying to get wild birds from game-farm birds," Putnam said. "Yet, there are numerous examples of entire states being repopulated by a handful of wild birds."
Once South Dakota officials capture the pheasants, representatives from Pheasants Forever and California University will travel there and drive the birds back to Pennsylvania. The goal is to release the birds here within 36 hours of being captured to minimize stress and time spent in captivity, Putnam said. The plan is to release three hen pheasants for every one cock in an effort to maximize breeding potential.
Researchers from California University have about 50 radio transmitters that will be attached to birds throughout the three-year stocking period to monitor their dispersal and survival rates. Information gathered from radio-tracking surveys will be used to gauge the program***‚¬*„*s effectiveness.
"It***‚¬*„*s been a long haul getting to this point, and we***‚¬*„*re very optimistic," said Jose Taracido, a California University wildlife conservation specialist and habitat coordinator for Tri-County Pheasants Forever.
"I know the habitat supports a lot of pen-reared quail we***‚¬*„*ve already put in there. So, if the dumb birds can make it, we***‚¬*„*re hopeful the wild birds can take off on their own."
05-03-2005, 06:59 AM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Lancaster pa
Posts: 3,015
RE: PA to get wild pheasants from SDakota
This sounds like a good idea but they'll probably all get shot a day after they're released just like everything else that's stocked in this state. I know here in Lancaster county it's hard for them to reproduce even if they make it. The farmers have gotten so good at growing crops that they harvest their fields alot sooner then they did years ago which in turn kills alot of the chicks that are using those fields for cover. Also with the decline in trapping in our area the fox population has skyrocketed so there are alot more natural predators which also include the redtail hawks that sit in what seems like every tree around here. My Mother has worked for a farm vet for years and has spoken to countless biologists who have studied pheasants in Lancaster and why they are disappearing. They all said the same reasons that I just gave. Believe me, I can't count the number of pheasants we released that were taken by hawks.
05-03-2005, 12:16 PM
#4
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 15,452
RE: PA to get wild pheasants from SDakota
RE: PA to get wild pheasants from S... (in reply to bearklr)
Talk about a program that keeps spinning its' wheels......
Do away with the pheasant program all together and work on something that will thrive in PA.
Talk about a program that keeps spinning its' wheels......
Do away with the pheasant program all together and work on something that will thrive in PA.
05-03-2005, 05:12 PM
#7
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2004
Location:
Posts: 63
RE: PA to get wild pheasants from SDakota
ORIGINAL: bearklr
This sounds like a good idea but they'll probably all get shot a day after they're released just like everything else that's stocked in this state. I know here in Lancaster county it's hard for them to reproduce even if they make it. The farmers have gotten so good at growing crops that they harvest their fields alot sooner then they did years ago which in turn kills alot of the chicks that are using those fields for cover. Also with the decline in trapping in our area the fox population has skyrocketed so there are alot more natural predators which also include the redtail hawks that sit in what seems like every tree around here. My Mother has worked for a farm vet for years and has spoken to countless biologists who have studied pheasants in Lancaster and why they are disappearing. They all said the same reasons that I just gave. Believe me, I can't count the number of pheasants we released that were taken by hawks.
This sounds like a good idea but they'll probably all get shot a day after they're released just like everything else that's stocked in this state. I know here in Lancaster county it's hard for them to reproduce even if they make it. The farmers have gotten so good at growing crops that they harvest their fields alot sooner then they did years ago which in turn kills alot of the chicks that are using those fields for cover. Also with the decline in trapping in our area the fox population has skyrocketed so there are alot more natural predators which also include the redtail hawks that sit in what seems like every tree around here. My Mother has worked for a farm vet for years and has spoken to countless biologists who have studied pheasants in Lancaster and why they are disappearing. They all said the same reasons that I just gave. Believe me, I can't count the number of pheasants we released that were taken by hawks.
...and let's not forget coons. The probabaly kill as many nests as fox (if not more).
05-03-2005, 05:12 PM
#8
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2004
Location:
Posts: 63
RE: PA to get wild pheasants from SDakota
ORIGINAL: PA_BOW_HUNTER
this would be nice if it worked but they have been trying to keep pheasants in PA for a while with no luck....
this would be nice if it worked but they have been trying to keep pheasants in PA for a while with no luck....