Telemetric determination of movements and behavior of released pheasants

Two releases of 50 birds each were made on the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Farm. One release was made in the fall, the other release was made in the spring. The birds were a cross between Western Iranian black-necked (Phasianus colchicus talischensis) and Chinese ring-necked pheasants (P. c. torquatus). Ten of the pheasants released in the fall and five of the pheasants released in the spring were instrumented with transmitters. Equipment difficulties with both releases reduced the ability to monitor the birds. As a result of these difficulties, field observations were resorted to for the bulk of the data. Known mortality amounted to 26% of the total number of birds released. Seven cases of dispersal off the study area were recorded. The dispersal ranged from l~ to 4 miles from the release sites. The pheasants were most frequently observed in, or adjacent to, woodlots. The spring-released pheasants exhibited a more gradual decline in numbers observed on the study area than the fall released birds. Breeding activity was thought to be partly responsible for the increase in spring observations. Three hens which were thought to be nesting were killed by mowing operations in hayfields. Several broods were observed during the summer.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Wildlife Management

Department dc:contributor.department

Wildlife Management

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Year dc:date.issued

1972

Author dc:creator

• Spiers, Gary Hampton

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/76374

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/76374