The bird popluation is down from ma nature 100% in my neck of the woods. Farming hasen't changed in the last few years. We went from the most birds to no birds in 1 year. Now i'm quout "a hick dumb farmer from the fly over state" so hey, what do I know. I spary wheat stubble when doves have egge and month latter when they have babys learing to fly the stuff we use is pretty safe at the rate we put on. 7 oz on a acre is not much.

World demand for food, high grain prices have brought more chemical use like roundup that has eliminated grass and weeds in our crop fields. That was considered habitat a few years ago. It has forced our remaining population of birds into smaller areas which can be easily hunted by us and other prey. High land prices have now created bulldozer mania. Our little farm steads have all but disappeared. I did see good numbers of doves today. Dave

In southeastern Michigan we had lots of pheasants until they took the bounty off foxes in, I think, 1963. Now it's coyotes, foxes, racoons, possums, and even turkeys that insure no pheasants in Michigan as far as I can tell. There are predators everywhere. The habitat is as good or better than when they were plentiful - still lots of grain and corn fields bordered by impenetrable brushy swamps and overgrown fence rows. It should be phez heaven, but they are extremely rare to the point of almost being non existent these days.