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Dew, Wind and Cloud Cover Influenced Pheasant Brood Detection Across 11 US States

Young ring-necked pheasant chick foraging in low vegetation in Minnesota
Research · Other research

A large-scale study of common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) brood surveys across the United States found that weather and ground moisture affected how likely observers were to detect family groups. The researchers analysed 1,000 replicated roadside surveys conducted on 92 routes in 11 states between 2019 and 2021, covering 174 route-by-year combinations.

Observers recorded 2,629 pheasant broods. At average environmental conditions, the model estimated a median brood-detection probability of 0.10. Dewpoint depression had the strongest effect: mornings when air temperature was closer to the dewpoint, and therefore generally dewier, produced higher detection probabilities. Greater wind speed and cloud cover reduced detection, while higher soil moisture increased it. Temperature had comparatively little influence.

Weather changed how reliably brood counts reflected pheasant productivity

The study focused on brood counts because these surveys are widely used as an index of pheasant productivity and population status. Environmental conditions varied among routes, years and regions, meaning that direct comparisons of uncorrected counts can partly reflect changing detection conditions rather than only changes in brood abundance.

The authors recommend conducting surveys on mornings with few clouds, low wind and favourable dew conditions where possible. They also show how replicated surveys or model-based detection estimates can be used to account for imperfect detectability when comparing monitoring results across years and large geographic areas.

Sources and image credit

  1. Janke, A. K., Dienes, Z. R., Taylor, J. S., Dixon, P. M., & Bogenschutz, T. (2026). Environmental factors influencing detection of ring-necked pheasant broods during August roadside surveys. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 90(3), e70180. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.70180Primary open-access research article first published 18 February 2026. State wildlife agencies conducted 1,000 replicated roadside surveys on 92 routes in 11 US states during 2019–2021 and recorded 2,629 pheasant broods. Detection probability varied with dewpoint depression, wind, cloud cover and soil moisture.

Image: Mara Koenig / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) chick foraging in low vegetation in Minnesota, USA, photographed 24 May 2021. Representative US brood-stage photograph, not a bird from the 2019–2021 survey dataset. Source: Wikimedia Commons. · Public Domain — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · Source

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