Pheasants in the woods: Environmental quality and pheasant survival are two elements that go parallel; this is why when the pheasant chooses its habitat it does so with care and caution: its life and the life of its offspring depend on this.
The wood is a bit like a home for the pheasant and like any human being looking for an apartment, even the bird chooses the habitat carefully: it is essential not only to limit the negative effects caused by winter, but also because the forest is able to offer food and shelter from predators. It goes without saying that choosing well is essential. The best woods are naturally inflated, as are the fashionable neighborhoods of human societies: finding housing is practically impossible. However, many try and this clearly explains why in some cases the winter losses are so high; the explanation is not to be found exclusively in the harsh climate, but also in the high population density which means less food for everyone and during the spring limited opportunities to establish one's own reproductive territory. It is precisely during the spring that the pheasants divide the territories along the edge of the forest and right there they cast the hook to catch a consistent harem of females.
However, the life of the male is hard: not everyone manages to conquer a good territory and even among those who have succeeded in the enterprise there are those who just cannot put on a harem. This is because not all places inside the forest are the same and the females know this well. After careful studies it became clear that the most favorable areas for wintering are also those that allow the pheasant to create a large harem.
The sites chosen are commonly reused, year after year, by the same group of pheasants and normally these places are at the edge of the wood and must have a rich shrub vegetation. It is true that the females do not totally disdain the territories at the edge of the wood which have bushy vegetation, but they certainly prefer those with a rather rich internal shrub vegetation. That said, it is important for a hunter to know what are the elements that make the pheasant prefer a habitat rather than another. Not only can in this way point towards “safe” hunting areas, but an active hunter also has the possibility of modifying the surrounding territory so that the pheasant better adapts to one forest rather than another.
There are at least three requirements that pheasants instinctively take into consideration when choosing their habitat:
1. The edge of the forest. The wider the margin in proportion to the extension of the forest, the more the pheasants will choose that as their home. It follows that the favorites are small woods with large margins or large ones with internal clearings and rather marked irregular edges. After a long observation of the species it is in fact clear that the pheasant spends a lot of its time in the first 20 meters of the wood: this is the area most frequented by adults. These rarely go into the heart of the vegetation exceeding 50 meters from the external perimeter. For this reason the preference of pheasants falls mainly on small woods; these possess in proportion to their size, a higher percentage of margins. The larger woods, on the other hand, have several areas that are too far from the margins and these remain scarcely used.
2. Quantity and quality of the undergrowth. The bushy covers, both for the female of pheasant which for the male must be very dense and must be found, needless to say, on the edge of the wood. It should be noted that females generally prefer internal rather than external areas compared to males.
3. Quality and quantity of food. This is certainly not the least important factor despite being left in last position. For a territory to be chosen by pheasants it must be marginal to the wood, rich in vegetation and natural food. Finding a habitat rich in food allows the pheasant to have a safer and more peaceful winter. In fact, it has been shown that when forced to look for food out of the woods, this kind of external feeding exposes them more to the aims of predators as they are more easily identifiable.
The hunter in possession of this information has the possibility to artificially recreate comfortable habitats for pheasants with a minimum of effort. That's how.
- Hedges around the forest. They can be made strong and dense, tall and no more than a meter wide.
- Improvement of the margin. Whenever possible, it is rather convenient to create a small cesspool inside the wood about 4 meters from the outermost row of trees. This small green space will surely appeal to pheasants as a welcoming nesting and feeding place.
- Favor the undergrowth. It shouldn't be too dense, but still dense. A good undergrowth full of nocturnal perches, preferably warm and sheltered, will be literally irresistible for the pheasant looking for a home.