Ring-necked Pheasant - any one seen them?

[Raven11:11]

I uses to see tons of them all of the time, & hear their distinct voice along the bike path at Hwy#27 at Humber College ....  not in the past 5 yrs though* ... any ideas why?

[Gary]

I think when the coyotes moved into the Humber River valley they wiped out the ring-necked pheasants. I used to have as many as 8 pheasants at a time at my feeders in the winter; but in the last few yrs. I haven't seen or heard pheasannts in the valley.

[Raven11:11]

So who / when were they introduced? Or did they migrate  here alone from up north???

[Tyler]

Coyotes don't come from the north. They came from the west as Man cleared the forests. In the GTA they love to move along railway corridors. Other species that use rail corridors for movements in the GTA are White-tailed Deer and Northern Mockingbirds.

As for urban Pheasants. In the GTA there was a healthy population of pheasants in the Cranberry Marsh area. They survived quite well with having a healthy coyote population in the same area. However they went into a serious decline shortly after Wild Turkeys showed up.
Any Wild Turkeys show up in the humber yet?

There are showing up in most urban creek ravines in Durham Region now.

[Raven11:11]

.... Yes,  so why did the coyotes only begin hanging out around here so recently?   And no I have not seen any wild turkeys yet.

[Tyler]

They may have been in the humber valley for quite some time. What you may be noticing are new younger coyotes that have come in and are looking for territories. Seeing that they may not have an established territory they are more visible do to the fact they are roaming around more looking for a free territory and for food.

Normal Coyotes that have established territories usually are quite discrete around people. Mostly at dawn and dusk sightings. Unless people start feeding them and making them into Feral pets which is bad for all involved.

A hungry lonely coyote is a visible coyote. I am sure there are lots of food sources in the humber area, squirrels, voles, mice, rats, birds nests, cats, garbage, etc.  So the visible coyotes are probably new immigrants into the area looking for a home.

I have a den of coyotes in the ravine behind my house and they do not come up into my neighbourhood till well after dusk.

And as for introductions of Coyotes no one in any form of authority would introduce Coyotes to an urban area. Coyotes get hunted in the country side daily and their population still remains healthy. That is why they are the Wylie E. Coyote


Back on Pheasants. Alot of the urban birds in ravines are escapees or desendents of released birds. And thus tend to need to be replenished with introductions to keep the population going.

[Raven11:11]

I recall seeing them here and there .....  obviously there has been an significant increase in coyote numbers to result in such a decrease in these birds.  I appreciate your feedback!

[norman]

I had to have a look before bed ... well, I can sleep in this morning.

I has a quick look 'round, with a view to find out when they (the pheasants) arrived over here, and this information took a while to locate. I'm sure there's more out there, if you're interested.


So ... I finally found a brief (very) account of their history here: They were, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife author of a "blog," (see below for website) introduced from northern China to (where else?) New York in 1773 (!)., and, as usual, several more introductions occurred later in the century, up to the present, 'cause some folks like to look at 'em and some folks, well, shoot 'em.

http://introducedbirds.blogspot.com/200 ... north.html


I remember reading a fair bit about them when I was younger -- Okay, purely anecdotal, but I'm sure I remember discovering that these birds can't handle deep snow. We've certainly seen our share this decade. Combined with predation, disease, etc., I suppose we'll be hearing about more introductions.


Good Night And Good Luck, Edward.

[Raven11:11]

Thanks Norm, I will have a look.

[norman]

Which reminds me -- I haven't seen/heard one of these (very) neat critters in a long, long time. I really should get out more.

Raven: An entire pork roast every week? Is that healthy?

[Raven11:11]

likewise, I plan to get out there more & see if I can spot one ... or two.  As for the pork roast ... 1 a week will only add years to your life in my opinion.

[skyviewer]

I seen a ring necked pheasant last spring at Lynde Marsh in Whitby.  Speaking of Turkeys and coyotes i seen a large male turkey in a farm field this week so i tried to sneak up on him to get some pics.  He ended up running up over a hill and i lost sight of him.  When i came up over the hill the turkey was gone but i spooked a coyote who ran off.  I mostly likely saved that turkeys life and he didn't even thank me by hangin around for a picture.

[cloaca]

Back on Pheasants. Alot of the urban birds in ravines are escapees or desendents of released birds. And thus tend to need to be replenished with introductions to keep the population going.

Why do we need to keep the population going?