Crowing Counts Up Statewide

Watch the spring pheasant crowing count webcast with RJ Gross.

The number of roosters heard crowing during the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s 2024 spring pheasant crowing count survey was up 37% statewide from last year.

“This is really good news but expected, considering we had such great production last year and the mild winter we had certainly wasn’t hard on birds,” said RJ Gross, Department upland game management biologist.

The primary regions holding pheasants showed 28.8 crows per stop in the southwest, up from 19.5 in 2023; 21.5 crows per stop in the northwest, up from 16.6; and 16 crows per stop in the southeast, up from 12.8. The count in the northeast, which is not a primary region for pheasants, was 5 crows per stop, up from 3.3 last year.

Barring untimely heavy rains, cool weather or hail, Gross expects more good news as the peak of the pheasant hatch is upon us.

“The residual cover this year was great … with timely rains, the habitat for nesting looks great,” Gross said. “We should be setting up for a good fall.”

Pheasant crowing counts are conducted each spring throughout North Dakota. Observers drive specified 20-mile routes, stopping at predetermined intervals, and counting the number of pheasant roosters heard crowing over a 2-minute period.

The number of pheasant crows heard are compared to previous years’ data, providing a trend summary.