Spring diet of ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) in the UK: Implications for the body condition of nesting hens.

Abstract

In a previous study we found in a population of pheasants in southern England that the diet of females prior to nesting was an important factor determining their body condition and subsequent breeding success. This study aimed to determine the vegetative component of pheasant diet in spring by analysing faecal droppings collected from 1km transects at each of 15 sites in March and April 1996 and 1997 in southern, central and eastern England. All sites actively managed the pheasant populations for the purpose of hunting. Some sites released pheasants while others concentrated on wild management. Arable farming was the principal land use on all sites. Some sites extended their winter feeding program into spring, while others ceased feeding when the hunting season ended on Ist February. The growing shoot tips of cereal crops was the most important dietary component in March and April, representing approximately 75% of all fragments. Cereal grain was the second most important fragment. More grain was present in the diet in March than April, (22% in March. 8% in April, P=0.05). The presence or absence of supplementary feeding was the most important factor determining the proportion of cereal grain in the diet (P=0.029). Where there was no supplementary feeding, grain represented only 2.5% of all fragments. Wild seeds and broad-leafed plant fragments were also found but in relatively low quantities (seeds: 0.65% in March and 6% in April), (broadleafed plants: 2.5% in March, 7.5% in April). The diet of birds on non-feed supplemented sites contained few foods with a high calorific value. Previous research would imply that the body condition of hen pheasants fed this calorie-deficient diet would be poor, and could have a negative impact on overall breeding performance. We suggest that modem arable farming has created an environment where birds cannot find enough suitable natural foods during spring to enable them to build up fat reserves prior to nesting and brood rearing. We recommend that gamekeepers and wildlife managers continue to feed pheasants until the end of April. Grain should be provided (either via feed hoppers or with specially sown food plots) in breeding territories of pheasants which are typically adjacent to woodland edges, hedgerows or reed filled dykes.