Ring-Necked Pheasant Movements, Home Ranges, and Habitat Use in West Texas

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
P. colchicus movements, home ranges, and habitat use were studied in the High Plains of Texas. Day-to-day movements were highest in fall and winter, intermediate in spring and lowest in summer. Monthly home ranges were largest in summer and fall and smallest in spring and winter. Pheasants were restricted to playas in winter, moved into cool-season crops during sporing, and preferred row crops, small grains, and playas during summer and fall. Habitat management for pheasants in west Texas, given prevailing land-use practices and economic constraints, should include the planting of a summer crop (corn or sorghum) and a spring crop (wheat) adjacent to an ungrazed playa or the planting of corn, wheat, sorghum and any other crop, adjacent to an ungrazed playa. A management unit for pheasants in west Texas should include all land (400 ha) within a 1.13-km radius of a playa lake where the birds overwinter.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: