Where have all the pheasants gone?

[jaycee]

I also believe that the turkeys are forcing out the pheasants. Have had a spot that held wild pheasant for many many decades, turkeys are in there now...no more ringnecks.

Not very likely , pheasants are birds of vast open grasslands , marsh and low brush, while turkeys are forest dwelling birds , two absolutely different types of habitat.

[welsh]

Not very likely , pheasants are birds of vast open grasslands , marsh and low brush, while turkeys are forest dwelling birds , two absolutely different types of habitat.

+1 on that.

People blame turkeys for driving everything out, but pheasants are limited in Ontario by a lack of suitable habitat, not by competition from other birds. This is well documented. They need extensive grasslands for nesting and they need low scrubby cover to overwinter. Neither is common in southern Ontario, so pheasants have disappeared, as have other birds that need similar open grassy habitat: bobwhites, eastern bluebirds, bobolinks....

Turkeys are birds of mature hardwood forest. That's why they do well in Ontario.

[Mount Sweetness]

I am trying to tell you that this has happened in an area that I hunt. I appreciate and understand your opinion.

[greatwhite]

The area I live also should be prime habitat but I have seen only 2 in 18 years.

[welsh]

I am trying to tell you that this has happened in an area that I hunt.

You're telling me that pheasants are down and turkeys are up, and you're trying to tell me that these two things must be related. Unless you have some evidence showing how they're related, that's like saying that suicide by handing is caused by US government spending on science and tech -- because as it happens, both have risen at the same rate.

We don't have pheasants in this province for a few simple, well understood reasons:
1 - we don't have nesting habitat
2 - wintering habitat is also limited
3 - where habitat exists, there has been no serious effort to introduce the birds
4 - where birds are planted and habitat exists, we plant the wrong strains and we allow shooting hens

Minnesota has good pheasant numbers. They allow two birds per day, roosters only. Minnesota, like Ontario, has had a very successful program to reintroduce the wild turkey, over the same time frame as our program.

What does Minnesota have that we don't? Pheasant habitat.

Until Ontario hunters get over their desire to blame everything on turkey reintroduction, we will continue to get the hunting we deserve.

[Dythbringer]

Until Ontario hunters get over their desire to blame everything on turkey reintroduction, we will continue to get the hunting we deserve.

But how else I am going to explain why I missed all those shots this year?

[jaycee]

The area I live also should be prime habitat but I have seen only 2 in 18 years.

That "PRIME Habitat " that you live in , hundreds to thousands of acres as they have in the Dakota's and in Saskatchewan and Alberta ?, a few acres here and there does not make a prime area for pheasants .

[Mount Sweetness]

I'm not interested in a debate just trying to share with others my observations on a specific piece of land that I have monitored for decades. The pheasants disappeared in this specific location two years ago after running wild for decades. The turkeys appeared in this location two years ago as well. This is just me sharing with you what I have observed in this specific location. I do not know why any of this happened, I do not blame turkeys, but this is what I have observed. These two things happened simultaneously in this specific location.

[blasted_saber]

Pheasants are an introduced species from Asia. It doesnt hurt my feelings at all that native species are forcing them out.

[welsh]

Pheasants are an introduced species from Asia. It doesnt hurt my feelings at all that native species are forcing them out.

Well, first off, there is no evidence that native species are forcing them out. Their populations have failed in Ontario because the landscape is no longer suitable to them. And we ought to be concerned about that, if we care about native species, because many native species are facing the same problem because of the same changes. Even if we don't care about pheasants, we ought to care about bobwhites.

Taking care of the habitat means better opportunities all around. This is where the Americans are way ahead of us.