1pheas4
Moderator
Some of you may find this interesting. Others, I know you already know about this kind of stuff so it will probably bore the heck out of you.
In the past, you may have read posts of mine talking about "pheasant dusting pots/bowls". What are they? What do they look like? How can observing them give you and idea about how pheasants doing in a particular area?
A pheasant dusting pot/bowl is a shallow, dusty, depression in the ground made by a pheasant. The bird shakes his body and feathers in a way to spread dust throughout his feathers and over his body. By doing so, the bird is able to rid himself of fleas, ticks, and other annoying organisms.
They can be a great way to observe how your birds are doing. Often pheasant prints, and at times feathers, are left behind as they preen feathers.
Large foot prints are left behind by adult roosters, smaller "large" tracks are adult hens, and smaller partridge looking tracks are left behind from pheasant chicks. Chick's feathers are often drab brownish tan and obviously smaller in size compared to adult birds.
Why do I used pheasant pots so often to observe bird #'s in areas instead of cackle counts alone? My reasoning is that roosters can remain quiet for a month or more. I don't know why this is, but in some areas I've observed a high call count, then nothing for a few weeks or even a month or more. The birds are in there, but for whatever reason they remain quiet.
One other reason, buy just observing cackle counts alone, how do we know what kind of hatch we had? Unfortunately we really don't. Dusting pots give us a good idea of a hatch.
Below are some photos from a week or two ago. I know it looks like your just looking at dirt, but within those photos look closely and you can see the depressions and broken soil on the ground made by wild pheasants near my home here in IL.
Just a note; the ground must be dry to observe dusting pots. If there's moister in the ground they can't make dust resulting in seeing nothing but dirt when you observe.
Also, don't mistake dove tracks for pheasant chick tracks.
Ground broken up. Pheasant dusting pot/bowl made by a rooster. (notice the feather and look closely to the left of the pot and you can see the rooster foot print)
Ground broken up. Pheasant dusting pot/bowl made by a pheasant chick. (notice the small wing feather left behind from the pheasant chick)
This is hard to see, but the ground between the hedgerow and the first row of corn has been broken up by birds pecking and scratching at the ground looking for insects and small pieces of gravel for their gut.
This is an area where some nesting had occurred where these photos where taken.
In the past, you may have read posts of mine talking about "pheasant dusting pots/bowls". What are they? What do they look like? How can observing them give you and idea about how pheasants doing in a particular area?
A pheasant dusting pot/bowl is a shallow, dusty, depression in the ground made by a pheasant. The bird shakes his body and feathers in a way to spread dust throughout his feathers and over his body. By doing so, the bird is able to rid himself of fleas, ticks, and other annoying organisms.
They can be a great way to observe how your birds are doing. Often pheasant prints, and at times feathers, are left behind as they preen feathers.
Large foot prints are left behind by adult roosters, smaller "large" tracks are adult hens, and smaller partridge looking tracks are left behind from pheasant chicks. Chick's feathers are often drab brownish tan and obviously smaller in size compared to adult birds.
Why do I used pheasant pots so often to observe bird #'s in areas instead of cackle counts alone? My reasoning is that roosters can remain quiet for a month or more. I don't know why this is, but in some areas I've observed a high call count, then nothing for a few weeks or even a month or more. The birds are in there, but for whatever reason they remain quiet.
One other reason, buy just observing cackle counts alone, how do we know what kind of hatch we had? Unfortunately we really don't. Dusting pots give us a good idea of a hatch.
Below are some photos from a week or two ago. I know it looks like your just looking at dirt, but within those photos look closely and you can see the depressions and broken soil on the ground made by wild pheasants near my home here in IL.
Just a note; the ground must be dry to observe dusting pots. If there's moister in the ground they can't make dust resulting in seeing nothing but dirt when you observe.
Also, don't mistake dove tracks for pheasant chick tracks.
Ground broken up. Pheasant dusting pot/bowl made by a rooster. (notice the feather and look closely to the left of the pot and you can see the rooster foot print)
Ground broken up. Pheasant dusting pot/bowl made by a pheasant chick. (notice the small wing feather left behind from the pheasant chick)
This is hard to see, but the ground between the hedgerow and the first row of corn has been broken up by birds pecking and scratching at the ground looking for insects and small pieces of gravel for their gut.
This is an area where some nesting had occurred where these photos where taken.
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