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APPROVED
(July,
1999)
This Fact Sheet
was
designed to explain the proposed pheasant release
program for St. Joseph Island.
The St. Joseph Island
Hunters and Anglers Association is a community -
based organization, whose primary purpose is
wildlife conservation through proper management,
environmental stewardship, and adherence to all
Fish and Wildlife Regulations.
Project: The Hunters
and Anglers Association is supporting a "Put
and Take" pheasant release program, to
increase hunting and viewing recreational
opportunities for Ringneck Pheasant on St. Joseph
Island.
This will be a one-year
pilot project by the St. Joseph Island Hunters
and Anglers Association, with potential for an
annual release if recreational opportunities and
success rates are favorable.
The proposed release period
will be early summer 1999. A maximum of 300 adult
birds will be stocked in a ratio suitable to
optimize immediate breeding.
Stocking will take place on
private land, where habitat is ideal and
permission has been granted by club member
landowners. Certified disease free stock will be
purchased from Upland Pheasantry in Southern
Ontario, transported humanely and released, by
club members, at pre selected sites to insure
maximum survival.
Normal hunting regulations
and licenses will apply to these birds and
private land must be respected, if this program
is to be a success.
Biology of Birds
Pheasants have a higher
capacity to reproduce than most other upland game
birds. A single hen will often produce up to 15
chicks per clutch, and may have two clutches per year if
conditions are ideal. In this area, birds released in July will
likely set a clutch immediately and hatch would occur 25 days later. Sixteen weeks later these young birds
will not be distinguishable from their parents.
Pheasants are polygamous, which means that one
cock will mate with several hens.
Newly hatched chicks will
eat primarily insects for the first three weeks
of life. After that point they assume an adult
diet of all types of plant material (clovers,
grass and weed seed, fruits, berries, grains) and
animal material like worms, grubs and larger
insects. Because of their diet, pheasants will be
most frequent near agricultural areas. Ideal
habitat includes a good interspersion of openings
and meadows, some grain or seed-producing crops,
and tall grass or shrubby vegetation in fencerows
or ditches.
Cold weather does not cause
pheasant mortality unless accompanied by high
winds. Cover close to ground (eg. stubble of corn
or cereal crops) may assist early winter
survival. Pheasant range is limited by snowfall;
generally areas where annual snowfall is greater
than 150 cm (60 inches) are considered unsuitable
for year-round survival of birds. St. Joseph
Island receives more than this critical level of
snowfall except during exceptionally mild
winters.
Parasites and diseases of
pheasants, like other game birds, are relatively
rare. Coccidiosis, blackhead, botulism and other
common poultry diseases apparently are only a
problem in confined flocks where sanitary
conditions are less than ideal. The proposed
supplier of our release birds has stock that is
certified to be disease and parasite free to
allow him to ship live birds around the world.
Perdition on wild birds by
raccoons, foxes, coyotes, mink, owls and hawks
will occur as it does in our native bird
populations. Most studies indicate that losses of
released birds due to perdition are less than
10%, which is not that critical.
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