The Ring-necked Pheasant faces a serious challenge for survival during winter due to severe cold and snow cover. Maintaining a stable body temperature requires energy-dense food to offset high metabolic demands. The scarcity of available forage, combined with the energy expended searching for it, means the winter diet directly determines survival until spring. This period of high demand and low supply sets the stage for the bird’s unique winter foraging strategies.
Winter Forage: Seeds and Persistent Vegetation
The primary food sources for pheasants in winter are high-energy seeds and grain that persist above or just below the snow line. Waste grain left behind in agricultural fields provides the bulk of their diet during the coldest months. Corn, grain sorghum, and soybeans are particularly important because of their high caloric content, with corn sometimes making up as much as 75% of the diet in peak winter months.
Beyond cultivated crops, pheasants rely heavily on the seeds of common weeds and native plants that remain standing through the winter. Seeds from species like ragweed, sunflower, and foxtail are readily consumed, offering a consistent, lower-calorie food source. Fruits and berries that cling to the branch, such as rose hips and sumac, supplement their diet with nutrients and moisture. However, the availability of this forage is highly dependent on modern agricultural practices, as efficient harvesting and tilling can significantly reduce the amount of waste grain left on the surface.
Accessing Hidden Food Sources
When snow blankets the landscape, pheasants must adopt specialized behaviors to access their food. Survival hinges on reducing the energy spent traveling and foraging, meaning they prefer food sources within a quarter-mile of dense winter cover like cattail marshes or shelterbelts. Traveling further exposes them to predators and harsh weather, rapidly depleting their reserves.
Pheasants use their strong feet and beaks to scratch and dig through shallow snow to uncover buried seeds and waste grain. They frequently target areas where snow cover is minimized, such as high points and south-facing slopes, where the sun and wind naturally melt or drift the snow away. The presence of standing food crops like corn or sorghum is valuable because the stalks hold the grain above the snow, making it immediately accessible. When snow is deep, they often concentrate their feeding in the protected, less-drifted edges of dense cover.
Human Intervention and Supplemental Diet
Human efforts often provide supplemental food that can significantly boost pheasant survival, especially during periods of extreme cold or deep snow. Conservation practices, such as leaving dedicated food plots of standing corn or grain sorghum unharvested adjacent to winter cover, offer a reliable, high-energy supply. These food plots are often more effective than traditional feeders because they also provide immediate, protective cover.
For direct feeding, supplemental foods include cracked corn, whole kernel corn, and sunflower seeds, which deliver the calories needed for thermal regulation. It is important to provide grit, consisting of small stones or coarse sand, as it is swallowed to help grind down hard seeds in the gizzard. Feed should be placed in sheltered locations near thermal cover, such as inside small openings of a windbreak, to minimize exposure to predators and the elements. Inappropriate foods like bread should be avoided as they offer little nutritional value and can swell, causing digestive issues. While supplemental feeding can be lifesaving during emergencies, it must be consistent and maintained until spring, as abrupt stoppage can lead to dependency and starvation.