Abstract
Survival of chicks is an important and poorly understood component of ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) population dynamics. We implanted transmitters in day-old chicks (n = 332) with brooding hens (n = 117) during 1990-94 in northern Iowa and calculated survival to 28 days of age. We contrasted survival among years and between an area in Palo Alto County with >25% grassland habitat and an area in Kossuth County with 85% of the mortality. Twenty-three chicks died of exposure on days when at least a trace of rainfall fell, and 11 of 23 (48%) died on days when rainfall was >0.6 cm (x = 0.96 cm, range = 0.68-3.38 cm). Age of the hen did not influence chick survival. Chick mortality rate was increased by 2.3% for each day chicks hatched after the median date of hatch (15 Jun) and was decreased by 10% for each gram of mass above the average chick mass at hatch (18.5 ± 0.13 g). Habitat management to improve chick survival of pheasants on agricultural landscapes should emphasize perennial grass and legume cover dispersed among crop fields. Grassland cover should remain undisturbed, particularly early in the nesting season (15 Apr-1 Jun), to improve the chances of successful first-nest attempts.
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