Pheasants undergo a breeding ritual during the springtime that involves the male birds staking out territory and calling to attract hens. The male then struts similar to a turkey, with feathers ruffled and wattles bright red and swollen. One cock pheasant may have a harem of numerous hens.

The hen then locates or scratches out a shallow depression in tall grass in which to lay her eggs. This nest may be unlined or sparsely lined with vegetation and sometimes a few breast feathers from the hen. The clutch size varies from seven to 11 eggs. The hen incubates the eggs for 23 to 26 days until the chicks hatch. The brood stays with the hen for several weeks, but the young birds grow quickly and will resemble adult birds in only 15 weeks.

This brings us back to the habitat problem. First, there are very limited areas with enough acres of grasslands to support breeding and nesting. Next, even in areas of good grass, a plethora of misfortunes can befall a successful nesting.

Many of the areas chosen by pheasants for nesting are in or near agricultural areas. Some grassy fields are cut for hay, while others are disked and planted with row crops. Some are merely mowed for appearance as part of today's trend of "clean farming" practices. These activities usually result in lost nests or broods.

Even many of the CRP lands are subject to nest and brood failures due to predators or farming. Only half of our 200,000 CRP acres are in broad expanses of grasslands. The other half lies in filter strips and field buffers.

These smaller filter strip and buffer areas are prime pickings for a variety of predators of both eggs and young birds. Coyotes, foxes, hawks and house cats prey heavily on young pheasants. Nests are raided for the eggs by skunks, raccoons and even snakes.

Farming practices on field buffers also destroy nests. During normal farming, it is often difficult to maneuver large tractors and implements. These field-edge strips often become "turn-around" locations for working equipment, which can destroy or otherwise affect nesting.

The best pheasant hunting opportunities lie in the counties in Illinois' traditional pheasant range -- the north-central and east-central portions of the state.

Pheasants will usually re-nest after a failed attempt. If a second nest is lost, they will often even nest a third time. However, with each successive nesting the clutch size is usually smaller.

For the Birds
There are some bright spots for the birds' future. One of the most encouraging things going on in the Prairie State is the Pheasants Forever (PF) Wheel Initiative. This program is working toward acquiring new lands and conserving others.

The Wheel Initiative involves the purchase of a central property known as the "hub." This hub property is then developed and managed to provide premium upland habitat. It will eventually be opened to hunting and will serve as the main location for wildlife activity. Then, owners of surrounding properties are encouraged to enroll their lands in CRP and various other conservation programs. This helps boost wildlife populations and movement throughout the entire area.

Illinois currently has four properties that have been acquired through the Wheel Initiative. The most recent acquisition is the 520-acre Thelma Nardin Estate property, located four miles north of Saybrook in McLean County. The Nardin property is currently farmland. A land-use and management plan will be implemented for the property through cooperation of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Pheasants Forever.

"Now that we have purchased the hub for this focus area, the work with the surrounding landowners begins," said Illinois PF conservation director Tom Schwartz. "We are excited to restore wildlife habitat on both the purchased land and the surrounding private lands."

The last property added to the Wheel Initiative was the Cranfield property -- 312 acres, in Montgomery County. The first two properties acquired were the 635-acre Sibley property in Ford County and the 118-acre Whitefield property in Marshall County.