Those conditions tend to favor upland nesting bird species, including pheasants, woodcock, grouse and turkeys. “Spring may be arriving early in Wisconsin and with the below average precipitation, we are shaping up for a drier spring than usual. So conditions for pheasants on the landscape were generally favorable over the winter period,” he says. Some areas in the far north and northeast saw some pretty significant snowfall events, but across most of the pheasant range in central and southern Wisconsin we saw above average temperatures and below average snowfall. “Wisconsin experienced a really mild winter throughout much of the state. Winter in Wisconsin’s pheasant range was generally mild, leaving birds in good condition for spring nesting, says Taylor Finger, who manages the pheasant program for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. “I can see some getting it from being near a poultry farm but I don’t think they’re at such high densities we’d see the kind of widespread or large-scale mortalities we see in waterfowl or shorebirds.” Regarding highly pathogenic avian influenza, Lyons says it might affect pheasants, but only in local areas, if at all. Most of the state is now out of drought conditions.” “The quick melt and decent weather this spring makes me hopeful the coming nesting season will be good. “The state produces a winter severity index, and it can sort of give a picture of winter severity for year-to-year, but it’s misleading for pheasants because it’s designed to characterize how snow and cold affect deer survival,” he says. ![]() Much of the southern part of the state, and in particular the southwest, was snow-free for a fair bit of the winter,” says Lyons. A lot of that snow in the eastern part of the pheasant range was due to a big storm in December that then completely melted in the next few days. On paper, it will look like we had more snow too, but it wasn’t as bad for pheasants. “We had longer periods of cold across the state than we did last year. Tim Lyons, upland game research scientist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, concurs. If we can maintain quality habitat, the future looks bright for this fall.” “Based on anecdotal reports I’m hearing, folks are seeing a good number of birds across the core pheasant range. The good news is we should have had good winter survival and the pheasants should be going into the nesting season in good shape,” says Sandquist. “The weather the next few months will play a big role. But “overall I think we had a good winter as it relates to the pheasants and wildlife,” he says. “There was some localized snow and ice events over parts of the Minnesota pheasant range, but in general they were followed by warming trends that opened food sources and gave the birds a reprieve.” The exception was the most northern part of the range, where snow lasted longer. Read on for state-by-state summaries or click on the map to jump ahead.Ī MILD WINTER AND GOOD OUTLOOK FOR SPRINGĭespite prolonged cold and snow in parts of Minnesota, the outlook for pheasants is generally good, says Eran Sandquist, Minnesota state coordinator for Pheasants Forever. And drought-ravaged areas will need gentle spring rains to rebuild grassland habitat. Pheasants will need to avoid long cold rains and gully-washers during nesting season. And they need some cooperation from the weather. What’s going to really matter for pheasant numbers is coming up: Nesting season. Small areas where weather was more severe than normal don’t threaten pheasant numbers as a whole. ![]() The good news overall - winter in most northern states was generally mild, or at the very least normal. So as spring takes hold across the core pheasant range, we asked: How about this past winter? How bad was it, and what are the prospects for pheasants as they head toward nesting season this spring? Thermal protection such as cattail marshes helps birds escape bitter cold, and a variety of nearby wild and agricultural food sources give birds options in snowy and icy weather. ![]() Good habitat helps blunt the worst of bad weather. And if birds are already suffering through long-term drought or a series of crippling weather events, then a tough winter can really do a lot of damage. Severe winters can decimate otherwise healthy pheasant populations. Deep or prolonged snow and ice prevent pheasants and other ground-foraging birds from finding and reaching food, just when they need it most. That’s especially true in the northern reaches of pheasant range, where extreme winter cold taxes birds’ ability to keep warm and increases demand for calories. Weather, along with habitat, is one of the big variables controlling the number of pheasants we see each hunting season. Habitat (some of it challenged by drought) and nesting success will write fall’s prospects ![]() Winter was not a killer across the core pheasant range.
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