PHEASANT HABITAT IN MICHIGAN

 

By Mike Parker, Pheasants Forever Regional Wildlife Biologist

 

Pheasants, like all wildlife, require year-round habitat.  While this sounds obvious, many landowners fail to address ALL the seasonal requirements of pheasants, and thus fail to increase their populations. If your area lacks even one of the seasonal habitat components, pheasants will not survive. 

 

Pheasant habitat in Michigan includes a combination of grasslands, wetlands, croplands, and brushlands.  The combination of these cover types provides nesting cover, brood rearing cover, roosting cover, escape cover, winter cover, and food.   The limiting factor for pheasants in Michigan is a lack of  undisturbed nesting cover.  Secondary concerns are quality winter cover with an adjacent food source.

 

The following is a description of the critical habitat requirements of pheasants in Michigan:

 

NESTING COVER TYPES:

 

·  Native (warm-season) prairie grasses - Big bluestem, Little bluestem, Indiangrass.

·  Introduced (cool-season) grasses & legumes - Timothy, Orchard grass, Clovers.

·  Roadsides over 30 feet wide & not mowed or sprayed until July 15.

·  Lowland grasses near wetland edges.

·  Fencerows and shelter belts over 60 feet wide - shrubs with no tall trees.

·  Grain stubble.

·  Alfalfa - if not mowed until July 15.

 

NESTING COVER RECOMMENDATIONS:

 

·  Plant nesting cover in 10 to 100 or more acre blocks.  Ideal is 40+ acres.  The bigger the better!

·  To protect nesting hens and chicks, do not mow nesting cover until July 15.

·  In the fall, do not mow nesting cover after September 10 to allow cover to be of sufficient height the following spring.

·  Mix wildflowers with native grasses to attract protein rich insects for pheasant chicks to feed on.

·  Nesting cover should be no more than 1 mile from high quality winter cover.  The closer the better!

·  Plant nesting cover in blocks.  Avoid planting long narrow strips as they will serve as predator traps.

·  Avoid overgrazing pastures.  Limit grazing between July 15 and September 10.

·  Sod forming grasses such as brome and fescue are usually too thick for pheasant chicks to walk through, and therefore should NOT be planted.

 

 

RECOMMENDED NESTING COVER MIXTURES:

                  

Warm-Season Grasses (WSG):                                WSG Mix for wet or organic site:

       1.  Big bluestem @ 2 lbs/acre*                                 2.     Big bluestem @ 4 lb/acre

            Little bluestem @ 1 lb/acre                                           Switchgrass @ 1 lbs/acre

            Indiangrass @ 2 lbs/acre                                               Indiangrass @ 1 lb/acre

            Switchgrass @ 0.4 lbs/acre                                           Wildflower mix @ ½ lb/acre

            Wildflower Mix @ ½ lb/acre                                                   

 

Cool-Season Grasses (CSG):                                    CSG Mix for wet or organic site:

       1.  Timothy @ 3 lbs/acre                                          2.  Orchardgrass @ 4 lbs/acre

            Orchard grass @ 3 lbs/acre                                      Redtop @ 2 lbs/acre

            Medium red clover @ 3 lbs/acre                               Alsike clover @ 3 lbs/acre

            Ladino clover @ 3 lbs/acre                                       Birdsfoot trefoil @ 3lbs/acre

 

WINTER COVER:

 

·  Dense cattails.

·  Cattail swales mixed with lowland brush such as willows - no tall trees.

·  Thick wetland sedges and grasses.

·  Native grasses that will hold up to heavy snow, such as switchgrass.

·  Grain sorghum or forage sorghum.

·  Wide shelter belts containing spruce and fruiting shrubs.

 

WINTER COVER RECOMMENDATIONS:

 

·  Plant switchgrass in 2 to 5 acre (or larger) blocks.  Avoid planting winter cover in long narrow strips (less than 60 feet wide) as they will serve as predator traps.

·  Restore a wetland to create high quality winter cover.

·  Avoid planting winter cover in frost pockets.

·  Narrow fencerows or those containing tall trees are deathtraps for pheasants.  Plant fencerows a minimum of 6 to 8 rows wide, with spruce on north and/or west side.

 

RECOMMENDED WINTER COVER GRASSES:

 

1.  Switchgrass @ 6 lbs/acre                             2.  Switchgrass @ 4 lbs/acre

                                                                             Big bluestem @ 2 lbs/acre

                                                                             Wildflower mix @ ½ lb/acre

(Note:  This mix will also serve as nesting cover)

WINTER FOOD:

 

·  Corn

·  Grain sorghum

·  Grain mixtures - Pheasants Forever’s “Michigan Mix”

·  Weed seeds - ragweed and foxtail

·  Fruit bearing shrubs - grapes, highbush cranberry, Roselow crabapple, hawthorn.

WINTER FOOD RECOMMENDATIONS:

 

·   Food must be adjacent to and downwind of winter cover.

·   Food located more than ¼ mile from winter cover is generally not used by pheasants.

·   Plant food plots from 1 to 5 acres.  Larger plots (3 to 5 acres) are needed in areas with high deer density.

·   Plant travel corridors (wide shrubby fencerows or switchgrass) to connect food plots to winter cover.

·   Leave ½ of larger food plots unplanted each year.  Weeds growing in last years food plot will supply important weed seeds for pheasants.

·   Do not plant winter food plots within at least 150 feet of tall trees to avoid hawk and owl predation.

 

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:

 

1.  Great horned owls and red-tailed hawks are the primary predators of adult pheasants.  Both species are protected by federal law and should not be killed.  Fortunately, the impact of these avian predators can be greatly reduced by proper habitat manipulation.  All trees over 15 feet tall serve as potential hunting perches for raptors.  Thus tall trees should be removed from fencerows, within wintering areas, and scattered throughout nesting meadows.  Furthermore, it is extremely important that winter cover and food plots are not planted near tall trees.  Clear-cutting the first 60 feet of a woodlot is a great way to increase the distance from tall trees to cover.  The regenerating shrubs in the “cut-back” will produce food and cover for rabbits, quail, and other wildlife.  Cut-back borders should not be completed on the north edge of a woodlot because the area will receive insufficient sunlight for sufficient regeneration.      

 

2.     Several federal programs are available to provide cost-share to create pheasant and other wildlife habitat.  The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) pays a 50% cost-share and annual rental payment to plant grasses and other cover types to prevent soil erosion and provide wildlife habitat.  The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) provides a 75% cost-share to plant grasslands and travel corridors for wildlife.  Contact your local Natural Resource Conservation Service office for additional information.  The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Partners for Wildlife program provides funding for wetland restorations.  Contact the USFWS for additional information.

 

3.   Small isolated projects provide limited benefits to pheasants.  Ideally, you would want to manage a 40 to 80 acre tract.  Therefore, landowners with small parcels working with neighbors will improve their chances of increasing pheasant populations.  Use an aerial photo and/or walk adjacent properties to inventory the pheasant habitat in your area.  If you lack a habitat component, such as winter cover, make sure you or your neighbors supply it.  Working together you can meet all habitat needs of pheasants.

 

4.   Contact your local Pheasants Forever chapter to determine the programs they have available.  Most chapters provide free or low cost seed to landowners interested in improving their property for wildlife.  Grasses for nesting and winter cover, as well as grains for food plots are typically available.  For information on contacting your local PF chapter, please contact Mike Parker, PF Regional Wildlife Biologist, at 517-668-1033 or mparkerpf@comcast.net.