The frigid start of winter in Wisconsin brings change to a pheasant's day
By Mikayla Peper
If you’re somewhere in the Midwest this December, you know the start of winter is not waiting for the twenty-first of the month. Some very chilly days and nights, and even a few snows have swept the region, certainly putting some in a bad mood with icy windshields, and perhaps others in a jolly mood as Christmas trees are set up.
While people are salting sidewalks and decorating, what are our favorite upland birds up to when the change of the season hits?
Pheasants Forever’s senior Farm Bill biologist in northwestern Wisconsin, Cody Tromberg, shares his perspective on the adjustments pheasants make when cold weather and snow hits.
“With the average life span of a wild pheasant being less than one year, the first day of winter can be quite a shock to them,” Tromberg said. “Typically, in Wisconsin we see the temperature drop quite a bit before we ever see the first snow that sticks, so they actually do take advantage of that adjustment period.”
Many frosty nights pass through the fall, encouraging a pheasant to first change their diet. Where they once foraged for vegetation and insects, they now search out different types of grains for their protein.
Tromberg describes, “There are a lot of farms in the area harvesting grain in the fall, so any waste grain left behind becomes a pheasant’s main meal.”
Once the snow starts to arrive and temperatures continue to drop, birds will search out thick, heavy cover.
“Depending on the area, this can mean a dense stand of native grasses or a cattail slough,” Tromberg said. “If neither are available, they can also favor woods with lots of brush cover, or even crop fields that are still standing.”
The adjustment to winter becomes even trickier when solid habitat is not near a food source. When these two key factors are not paired together, a pheasant might struggle with which one to choose or face serious challenges trying to balance both.
“Even if a pheasant finds a dense cattail slough to stay in, that won’t matter if they have to travel over a quarter mile to find food,” Tromberg said. “This trek can expose them to the cold and predators, and will cause them to use extra energy.”
Food plots shaped into large blocks are preferred for winter. Small, thin stands of grains can easily be blown over when snow arrives and lose their usefulness for pheasants.
November and December in Wisconsin this year have brought nights with temperatures in the single digits and lower along with intense wind, but very little snow. These conditions have actually been ideal for pheasants, according to Tromberg.
“Without the snow, prairie grasses are still standing to provide cover and even a little forage,” he said. “They don’t need that layer of snow for cover, finding some sort of habitat and food is easier without wading through deep snow.”
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When the first true, deep snow hits, upland hunters and dogs are delighted and perhaps confused to see pheasants holding their spot much more assertively.
“Pheasants appear to become dumb when snow arrives,” Tromberg laughs. “I don’t believe anyone has discovered the true reason behind why they act this way, but my best educated guess behind this behavior is they are trying to stay warm in the thermal cover and it’s probably more difficult to find the exits when snow is weighing down their cover.”
As always, the survival of pheasants comes down to one major factor – habitat. The quality, and continuity of habitat greatly matters as the seasons change, allowing pheasants to find some type of cover with a food source nearby.
“Once winter settles in, no matter if it’s private or public land, if they can’t find the right tools for survival the pheasants will move on to the next place,” Tromberg said.
Mikayla Peper is the media relations specialist at Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever national headquarters in St. Paul, Minn. She can be reached at mpeper@pheasantsforever.org.