Dale,
Went to college up in New Wilmington. The Amish farms then where fairly thick with wild Pheasants and the adjacent edge covers had them. The Amish up there haven't changed their farming practices. Last time I was up there the edge covers looked the same or at least more than adequate. Have hunting friends-Bird Dog people-who live close by and according to them some of the Mercer Co swamps hold some remaining wild Pheasants. Other than that it is put and take.
Same with Doves. Some fields would have 2-300 Doves trying to get in and feed. You can find them today, but usually not close to those numbers.
IMO, something other than habitat is and has been going on.
You probably haven't noticed but farming practices have changed. If you compare the 60's and 70's to now, there is a lot of change. Whit's post above mentions cleaner and bigger fields. I would add more corn/soybean rotations, less with hay and small grains. More corn silage (takes the whole stalk) being cut. The remaining 6 inch stalk doesn't provide much cover and NO food.
Larger faster machines don't allow wildlife to get out of the way. A New Holland model 477 haybine from the 70's cut a swath of hay 7 foot wide and you were lucky to run at 4 mph. Now, there are monsters that cut 30 feet at 10 mph. Combines instead of corn pickers mean less grain left in the fields.
Just a whole host of things, maybe it's not exactly habitat but it's made for less quality and quantity of habitat IMO.
It's certainly not the only factor but I think it's a big one. Jam the remaining small game into a smaller, less suitable area and it gets easier to for the predators.
Dale
