Survival and breeding success of reared and wild ring-necked pheasants in Sweden

Little research compares the reproductive performance of game birds reared and released in different ways. Consequently, we studied survival and breeding success of 307 female ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) by radio-tracking in Oster-Malma (O-M) and Gotland, Sweden, during 1983-86. All pheasants at O-M were released during spring after they had been reared (fostered) by domestic chickens (n=46) or under lamps (n=78; machine-reared). On Gotland, 114 machine-reared pheasants were released for comparison with 69 radio-tagged wild pheasants. When released in late May, survival was similar (P>0.2) for fostered females (43±8%; x±SE) and machine-reared females (44±9%). However, fostered pheasants had higher clutch survival (P=0.034) and higher brood survival (P=0.023) than machine-reared pheasants