According to a study by pheasants forever,coyotes help pheasant population.
And there’s enough coyotes in the areas that have good pheasant populations to support this from what I’ve seen.
Studies in canyons in San Diego seem to support that idea. Basically, in some canyons without coyotes the smaller predators, coons, housecats, possums and such, decimate ground nesting birds like quail. The habitat would be perfect for the birds without the heavy predation by the smaller predators. Granted, the studies are a few years old now, but it was my experience while living there that the further from civilization (as in the outer suburbs) the more 'yotes and the more quail one would see.
https://www.nature.com/articles/23028Mammalian carnivores are particularly vulnerable to extinction in fragmented landscapes1, and their disappearance may lead to increased numbers of smaller carnivores that are principle predators of birds and other small vertebrates. Such ‘mesopredator release’2 has been implicated in the decline and extinction of prey species2,3,4,5,6.
The distribution of native, chaparral‐requiring bird species was determined for 37 isolated fragments of canyon habitat ranging in size from 0.4 to 104 hectares in coastal, urban San Diego County, California The area of chaparral habitat and canyon age (time since isolation of the habitat fragment) explains most of the variation in the number of chaparral‐requiring bird species. In addition, the distribution of native predators may influence species number. There is statistical evidence that coyotes control the populations of smaller predators such as foxes and domestic cats. The absence of coyotes may lead to higher levels of predation by a process of mesopredator release.
Don't know if that is changing there as I left that area permanently in '91. But I do know, from relatives and personal observation on visits, that coyotes have moved back into areas where there were none when I grew up. Like walking down the streets I used to deliver papers on at 0530 in the 70's. Never saw a 'yote there. Now they are taking cats and small dogs from yards, and likely the possom and coon populations are down too.
There was no shortage of coyotes where I lived in E. WA and there was what I would consider decent populations of pheasant in suitable areas. Quail, partridge (Huns), and chukar too. Just an anecdote, but the birds seemed to be doing fine with coyotes around.
Geno
