Description
GRASSES | 50% (12.860 PLS/ft2) |
Big Bluestem, Kaw | Little Bluestem, Cimarron |
Blue Grama, Bad River | Prairie Junegrass |
Canada Wildrye | Sideoats Grama, Butte |
Green Needlegrass | Western Wheatgrass, Barton |
Indiangrass, NEB 54 | |
WILDFLOWERS | 50% (12.841 PLS/ft2) |
Alfalfa, VNS | Lemon Mint |
Annual Sunflower | Maximillian Sunflower |
Baldwin’s Ironweed | Partridge Pea |
Blackeyed Susan | Purple Coneflower |
Blanketflower (Indian Blanket) | Purple Prairieclover |
Canada Milkvetch | Red Clover |
Common Evening Primrose | Rocky Mountain Bee Plant |
Common Milkweed | Roundhead Lespedeza |
Cudweed Sagewort | Shell-leaf Penstemon |
Dotted Gayfeather | Stiff Goldenrod |
Engelmann’s Daisy | Stiff Sunflower |
False Sunflower | Upright Coneflower |
Heath Aster | Western Yarrow |
Hoary Vervain | White Prairieclover |
Illinois Bundleflower | Wild Bergamot |
TOTAL: 25.701 PLS/ft2 |
Wildlife Cover Requirements
Cover is critical because pheasants and quail depend on a variety of cover types (nesting, brood-rearing, winter) for population growth and survival. Ideally, a mix of warm-season bunchgrasses (e.g., big bluestem, little bluestem), forbs (broadleaf plants), and legumes (clover, alfalfa) provide nesting and brood-rearing cover. Landowners seeking to maintain or increase pheasant and quail populations should ensure that all of the essential habitat needs (food, cover, water, space) are available and easily-accessible in close proximity. Throughout the pheasant range, nesting cover is the single most important limiting factor for populations. Thankfully, it remains one of the few factors we can directly impact through habitat management and improvements. To learn more, visit the Habitat Essentials page.
The Habitat Organization
Pheasants Forever’s mission is to conserve pheasants, quail, and other wildlife through habitat improvements, public access, education, and conservation advocacy.