James M. Ruth

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Award Date

1972

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Wildlife and Fisheries Science

Abstract

Pheasants survive in a wide range of yearly weather extremes but can be limited by certain short-term weather factors (Graham and Hosterburg 1948). Study of short-term weather conditions can therefore be important in understanding pheasant survival. Many studies have been done on yearly and seasonal effects of weather on pheasant production and survival. Bemitt and Terril (1940) reported on possible temperature factors in pheasant management in the north central area of the United States. Effects of weather on pheasant reproduction were studied by Buss and Swanson (1950) and Kozieky et al. (1955). MacKullan and Eherhardt (1953) studied the tolerance of incubating eggs and young chicks to exposure. Labisky et al. (1964) discussed the influence of land use and weather on pheasant distribution. A few studies have reported the daily effects of weather on movement and habitat use of pheasants. The ability of pheasants to withstand climatic elements was measured by Latham (1947). Restriction of pheasant movement by weather was reported by Shick (1952) and Weston (1954). Cover type use was related to weather by Grondahl (1953). The previous studies were all done by visual observation. The development of radio-telometry systems (LeKunyan et al. 1959, Marshall 1960, Cochrane and Lord 1963) and techniques (Marshall and Kupa 1963) have made possible the collection of more information on daily movement and habitat use. The use of computers to analyze these data has allowed more detailed studies to be done (Siniff and Tester 1965). Movement and behavior of her pheasants during the nesting season were reported by Kuck et al. (1970). Carter (1971) studied seasonal movement of pheasants. General habitat use and movement of hen pheasants during brood-rearing were studied by Hanson (1971). Survival of broods may have as much influence on pheasant population as hatching success (Trautman and Dahlgren 1965). Since little is known about the influence of daily weather variations on hens during the brood-rearing period, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of selected weather conditions on the movement and habitat use of hen pheasants during the brood-rearing period.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Pheasants
Birds -- Migration

Description

Includes bibliographical references (pages 24-26)

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

36

Publisher

South Dakota State University

Rights

No Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Only
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/

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