blake
Life Member
NEWS:
From the Iowa DNR:
Seeds Planted Now for Habitat Next Winter
BOONE - The record setting snowfall and harsh winter of 2009-10 is a distant memory as spring unfolds and warm, pleasant days lie ahead. Gone is the concern for the wellbeing of Iowa wildlife until the next blizzard brings the lack of proper winter cover back to the front page.
But right now is when Iowans can make the biggest impact by planning shelterbelts and food plots for the upcoming winter, said Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife research biologist with the Department of Natural Resources.
Each winter food plots of corn, sorghum, or other grains are used by all kinds of wildlife to survive winter. Well-designed shelterbelts provide important cover and food plots provide an additional food source to help pheasant, quail, and other wildlife survive that period of heavy snow.
"There have been few documented cases of pheasants actually starving to death in Iowa," said Bogenschutz. "Virtually all of Iowa's winter mortality is attributed to severe winter storms with the birds dying of exposure to predators or the weather."
Shelterbelts provide excellent winter cover for pheasants and other wildlife to survive exposure from predators or weather. A food plot associated with a shelterbelt likely improves survival. So why plant food plots for pheasants if they seldom starve in winter?
Food plots provide winter habitat as well as food. In fact, if properly designed and large enough, the habitat created by a food plot is much more beneficial to wildlife than the food itself. Food plots also allow pheasants to obtain a meal quickly thereby limiting their exposure to predators and maximizing their energy reserves.
"If hens have good fat supplies coming out of the winter, they are more likely to nest successfully," said Bogenschutz.
Bogenschutz offers the following suggestions for planning shelterbelts and food plots for pheasant and quail:
From the Iowa DNR:
Seeds Planted Now for Habitat Next Winter
BOONE - The record setting snowfall and harsh winter of 2009-10 is a distant memory as spring unfolds and warm, pleasant days lie ahead. Gone is the concern for the wellbeing of Iowa wildlife until the next blizzard brings the lack of proper winter cover back to the front page.
But right now is when Iowans can make the biggest impact by planning shelterbelts and food plots for the upcoming winter, said Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife research biologist with the Department of Natural Resources.
Each winter food plots of corn, sorghum, or other grains are used by all kinds of wildlife to survive winter. Well-designed shelterbelts provide important cover and food plots provide an additional food source to help pheasant, quail, and other wildlife survive that period of heavy snow.
"There have been few documented cases of pheasants actually starving to death in Iowa," said Bogenschutz. "Virtually all of Iowa's winter mortality is attributed to severe winter storms with the birds dying of exposure to predators or the weather."
Shelterbelts provide excellent winter cover for pheasants and other wildlife to survive exposure from predators or weather. A food plot associated with a shelterbelt likely improves survival. So why plant food plots for pheasants if they seldom starve in winter?
Food plots provide winter habitat as well as food. In fact, if properly designed and large enough, the habitat created by a food plot is much more beneficial to wildlife than the food itself. Food plots also allow pheasants to obtain a meal quickly thereby limiting their exposure to predators and maximizing their energy reserves.
"If hens have good fat supplies coming out of the winter, they are more likely to nest successfully," said Bogenschutz.
Bogenschutz offers the following suggestions for planning shelterbelts and food plots for pheasant and quail:
- Corn and sorghum grains provide the most reliable food source throughout the winter as they resist lodging in heavy snows. Pheasants prefer corn to sorghum, although sorghum provides better winter habitat. Sorghum is also less attractive to deer.
- Place food plots away from tall deciduous trees that provide raptors with a place sit and watch food plots, and next to wetlands, CRP fields, or multi-row shrub-conifer shelterbelts that provide good winter habitat.
- Size of food plots depends upon where they are placed. If the plot is next to good winter cover the smaller (2-acre minimum) the plot can be. If winter cover is marginal (i.e., ditch) then plots must be larger (5-10 acres) to provide cover as well as food.
- Depending on the amount of use some food plots can be left for two years. The weedy growth that follows in the second year provides excellent nesting, brood rearing, and winter habitat for pheasants and other upland wildlife. Food plots that have heavy deer use generally need to be replanted every year.