A forecast for better birds

Ample spring and summer rains have led to some impressive increases in pheasant and quail populations across much of Kansas, according to Jeff Prendergast, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism pheasant biologist. Both are up about 50 percent from last year.

“We’re basing that primarily on our summer brood surveys,” said Prendergast. “That’s the best way to predict fall densities for about any species that is highly reliant on annual production and recruitment for their population.”

He said established routes were driven in 73 Kansas counties to gather data. Counts of adults and young birds seen were made by the state wildlife, fisheries and Pheasants Forever biologists, game wardens and some public lands managers.

Pheasants

Last year’s 70-percent increase in pheasant numbers helped increase the pheasant harvest to about 270,000 birds for the 2014-15 season. The 190,000 shot by hunters during the 2013 season was believed to be the lowest in more than 50 years.

Mild weather last winter led to an improved breeding population this spring. The ample rains that followed led to great nesting and brood-rearing conditions in most areas.

“Our breeding population this spring was up about 54 percent statewide,” Prendergast said. “Overall, we saw about a 51-percent increase in summer brood densities with increases in (central and western Kansas) regions.”

He predicted the best pheasant numbers should be in the northern-most part of northwest Kansas. The state’s Smoky Hills upland bird region, which covers most of north-central Kansas, had the second-best numbers of young birds, followed by southwest Kansas. South-central Kansas, which basically runs from Sumner to Clark counties, and Harvey to Pawnee counties, ranked as the fourth-best region, though it showed an overall increase of 70 percent from last year.

Still, some reports from places such as Reno, Stafford and Pratt counties within the south-central zone showed localized populations that might compare well with any part of the state. Likewise, there are areas within central and western Kansas that showed decreased numbers of young pheasants this summer.

Prendergast said the public needs to remember that even with substantial increases in most major pheasant regions, populations are still well below what they were over much of the state before the major drought began several years ago.

“It should be a better season, and some places are going to have good birds, but some areas still have a long ways to go even with two years of increases,” he said. “Looking back, (several decades) our average annual harvest was 650-700,000 birds. I think reaching that this year is unrealistic because we’d almost have to triple last year’s harvest. Even though things will be better, I’d still have to say we’ll have a below-average harvest compared to the longterm.”

Quail

Last year, most outdoorsmen noticed a nice increase in the Kansas bobwhite quail population, thanks to summer rains. For the first time in a decade or more, hunters in the eastern half of the state were moving six or seven coveys some days.

A mild winter, with a wet spring and summer, seems to have helped that trend to continue. Prendergast said the state quail population appears to have increased about 50 percent compared to last year. Most regions saw increases, the exception being eastern Kansas, where too much rain in the spring and summer hampered production and brood rearing.

As was the case last year, the Flint Hills region produced the highest numbers of young quail seen this summer. South-central Kansas ranks second, with an impressive 169-percent increase over last year. North-central Kansas ranks third. All three areas had some localized good hunting areas the past few seasons. Prendergast expects those good areas to be more common this year, thanks to spring and summer rains.

“I think we’ll have even more opportunities this year,” he said.

This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 6:16 PM with the headline "A forecast for better birds."