ANR-511 Bobwhite Quail Management
ANR-511, Reprinted December 1996.
By Lee Stribling, Extension Wildlife
Scientist, Associate Professor, Zoology and Wildlife Science,
Auburn University.
Bobwhite Quail Management
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The bobwhite quail was once the most popular game bird in the
South. When most agricultural crops were grown in small patches,
quail thrived throughout the state. High densities of bobwhites,
largely a by-product of land-use patterns, existed statewide.
Since that time, quail numbers have declined steadily. Habitat
losses have reduced the status of this prince of game birds.
Clean farming practices that destroy brushy fence rows and
enlarge field sizes continue to reduce habitat that is available
to quail.
Fortunately, bobwhite quail do not move much and are very adaptable.
This allows landowners to effectively manage the birds on relatively
small tracts of land. Management techniques can increase quail
populations in areas where they once existed.
Life History
By autumn of each year, bobwhites form loose groupings called
coveys. Coveys are generally made up of 9 to 14 birds.
Coveying allows quail to transfer information about food and cover
resources to covey members. This lessens the likelihood of predation
on individual birds.
Quail remain in coveys, feeding and roosting as a unit, throughout
winter. Early daylight hours are typically spent feeding. Mid-day
is reserved for resting, preening, and dust bathing. In late afternoon,
coveys feed again before forming the covey circle on the ground
to roost at dusk.
In good winter habitat, coveys may restrict their seasonal
activities to as little as 10 to 40 acres. In poorer habitat,
coveys are scarce and are sometimes forced to range over much
larger areas.
As days become longer and temperatures become warmer during
early spring, coveys begin to disband or break up. During most
years in Alabama, coveys begin breaking up by mid-April. The early
stages of covey break-up coincide with the time males or cocks
start whistling their characteristic bobwhite notes.
Initially, coveys may splinter into pairs or other small subunits
during the day and regroup to roost as a covey at night. Pair
bonds are usually formed between covey members. Although pairs
may begin building a nest and laying during April, covey breakup
is often not complete until mid-May.
Nesting activity usually lasts from early May through September.
Clutches of about 13 eggs are laid in nests located on the ground.
Hens incubate most nests, but cocks will readily assume incubation
duties when hens are not available.
The success rate for bobwhite nesting is low. Typically, only
one out of every four nests will hatch. Nests fall prey to many
egg-eating predators as well as forest and farm management activities.
Quail overcome poor nest success by renesting after a nest is
destroyed. Occasionally, during periods of favorable nesting conditions,
quail may raise two broods.
Eggs hatch after 23 days of incubation. The young, or chicks,
weigh only 1/6 ounce at hatching. They are immediately able to
move around on their own and feed themselves. However, they require
close brooding by adults to keep warm. Chick growth is rapid.
By 15 weeks of age, the young are nearly full grown and are identical
in appearance to the adults.
Habitat Needs
Like all other wildlife, quail require food, shelter, and water
to survive and reproduce. Quail are found in forest openings,
open woods, fallow fields, and along the edges of cultivated fields
that produce abundant food and provide adequate cover (Figure
2).
Neither abundance nor availability of drinking water limits
quail density or distribution in Alabama. Although quail occasionally
use water holes or other sources of free water, their water needs
are satisfied by drinking dew and eating berries and insects.
Quail feed seasonally on fruits, leafy vegetation, and insects.
But seeds make up the bulk of their diet throughout most of the
year. Energy-rich seeds, produced by grasses, legumes, other herbaceous
plants, trees, and shrubs are eaten by bobwhites during fall and
winter.
Grass seeds are preferred by quail during fall, but they spoil
rapidly and are depleted quickly. Persistent, hard-coated seeds
of legumes become staple food items by winter. Acorns, when available,
are preferred over all other foods from fall through early spring.
Early spring diets shift from seeds to insects and leafy green
vegetation. Insects remain an important food item to adults and
young throughout summer and into early fall.
Chicks require a high-protein diet for rapid growth and for
the development of flight feathers. This need is met by feeding
almost exclusively on insects during the first two to three weeks
after hatching. Fruits and berries, also called soft mast items,
are eaten by adults during summer.
Quail food items must be exposed on relatively bare soil and
in open-structured vegetation. Quail scratch poorly and are impeded
by extremely dense vegetation. Seeds buried beneath deep piles
of leaf litter, regardless of their abundance, are unavailable
to quail. Burn off this litter every two years.
Food availability is also influenced by its distance from protective
cover. Quail seldom move far from cover to feed. Small, relatively
dense thickets provide refuge from predators. Brushy drains and
fencerows can serve as resting areas and travel lanes between
fields.
Quail usually build nests in low, clumped vegetation that gives
good cover close to the ground. Vegetation around nests must be
open to allow quail easy access to and from nests. Often, quail
select nest sites close to fields, firelanes, roads, or other
such openings. Incubating hens also need sources of energy-rich
food nearby such as clumps of blackberries and other fruits.
Dead leaves and stems are used to build nests and must be available
near nest sites. Nests built during spring are often found in
old fields and woodlands left unburned for one to three years.
Management
The number of quail on a given area is determined largely by
habitat conditions. The amount, quality, and distribution of food
and cover affect population levels. High densities, sometimes
exceeding one bird per acre, occur where food and cover are plentiful
and well distributed so that quail don't have to move much.
Successful habitat management means meeting all of the birds'
yearly needs in relatively small areas. Provide a habitat for
all seasons, for both young and adults, for each covey within
areas of 10 to 40 acres.
Where quail are absent or scarce, either food or cover is not
adequate. If protective cover is available, populations usually
respond favorably to management practices that provide plenty
of fall and winter food. On the other hand, when further increases
in food supply fail to increase population levels, landowners
must manipulate habitat components to improve quail populations.
Management Techniques
Several habitat management methods are available to landowners
who are interested in improving quail numbers and hunting opportunities
on their land. These methods are directed toward manipulating
native vegetation and supplementing native food.
Burning. Controlled burning is often the most economical
and effective method of creating and maintaining a quail habitat
in old fields, woodlands, and over large acreages. Regular fire
use during late winter (February) increases the amount and availability
of quail foods.
Coverage and seed production of most grasses and legumes are
stimulated by annual burning. Lush, rapid growing vegetation that
follows fire attracts and holds large numbers of insects that
are eaten by quail. Burning reduces litter and discourages plant
growth from becoming too dense. Quail find it easier to feed in
burned areas and food items are more plentiful.
Some areas must be protected from fire in the quails' 10- to
40-acre range. Provide nesting habitat, fruit production, and
refuge cover by keeping fire away from small, selected areas.
Leaving portions of well drained, upland areas unburned for one
to two years creates ideal sites for late spring nests. Keeping
fire away from small coverts for several years allows fruit-producing
shrubs to volunteer and mature.
The intensity and timing of fire use are determined by many
factors, including weather and soil fertility. If you are inexperienced
in controlled burning, get help from the Alabama Forestry Commission
or a forestry/wildlife consultant.
Planting. Many food plants that are adapted to most
of Alabama may be planted to supplement native foods for quail
(see table). The primary value of many food plants lies in their
ability to concentrate or localize coveys for hunting. Another
benefit of the soil disturbance and fertilization associated with
planting is that good bugging and cover areas for young
broods are provided. Other plants, such as bicolor lespedeza,
Egyptian wheat, and plums yield cover as well as food.
Generally, well managed plots of 1/10 to 1/3 acre are large
enough to supplement the native foods of quail. One plot per 10
to 15 acres often supports high densities of quail. Relatively
long, narrow plots are preferable to other shapes for efficient
bird dog work and shooting. Adequately drained field edges, forest
openings, and utility right-of-ways are ideally suited to food
plot establishment.
Where possible, relocate plots planted in annual crops to recently
uncultivated sites each year. Rotating plots to nearby undisturbed
sites allows volunteer vegetation to grow in idle plots, thereby
increasing the amount and diversity of the food. Several good
quail foods are listed in the table.
Refer to Extension Circular ANR-485, "Wildlife Planting
And Practices" or ask your Extension agent for more information
regarding suitable varieties, planting methods, and planting dates.
Disking. Periodic dishing of old fields, field edges,
and open woodlands can be beneficial to quail. Disking discourages
accumulations of dense, mat-forming vegetation, which quail don't
like. It promotes the growth of many seed-producing grasses and
legumes. Disking is often the only effective method of breaking
up dense stands of broomsedge that have become too rank for quail
to use. Quail also use dished areas to take dust baths and to
pick up grit.
The series of plants that volunteer following dishing depend
largely on site conditions and residual seed stores. Generally,
light dishing during fall and early winter favors the growth of
most legumes. Spring dishing stimulates grasses during the first
growing season following soil disturbance.
Fertilizing and Liming. Fertilization and liming (as
indicated by soil tests) will increase cover and food plant growth.
In Alabama, super phosphate and basic slag have been used successfully
to increase legume coverage and seed production.
Complete fertilizers tend to stimulate grass and weed growth,
often to the exclusion of legumes. However, these fertilizers
may be beneficial in establishing protective cover for quail.
Managing Woodlands
Although quail are commonly associated with interspersed mixtures
of idle and cultivated fields, brushy drains, and woodlands, extensive
forested areas may provide good habitat if managed properly. Most
quail food plants require sunlight penetrating the forest canopy
and reaching the forest floor. Consequently, woodlands must be
thinned heavily. Maximizing both timber production and quail abundance
is impossible.
A good rule of thumb, varying somewhat with site fertility,
is that about 60 percent of the forest floor should receive sunlight
during mid-day hours. Depending on tree composition, this is usually
obtained by thinning woodlands to a basal area (measure of the
cross-sectional area of a tree) of about 40 to 60 square feet
per acre.
Slightly higher stocking rates are possible in stands dominated
by longleaf and slash pine. Stands of shortleaf and loblolly pine
may need additional thinning. During thinning operations, retain
small patches and isolated mature oaks on upland sites. Avoid
logging during spring and summer. It will harm quail reproductive
efforts.
Burn woodlands regularly but retain patches of unburned cover
for nesting and fruit production. Generally, annual fire stimulates
food plant production for quail. Infertile or excessively drained
sites may require less frequent burning.
Managing Fields And Farmland
Quail management can be combined with farm management if landowners
are willing to give up small portions of agricultural fields to
quail. Large scale, clean farming leaves few prospects
for quail.
Leaving field edges uncultivated and allowing them to revert
to native vegetation will benefit quail. Provide a transition
zone from agricultural fields to woodlands. Usually, an uncultivated
band about 50 feet wide is sufficient. Maintain this transition
zone in predominantly weedy vegetation by periodically dishing,
burning, or mowing.
Leaving several perimeter rows of grain crops unharvested will
help supplement native foods. Retain crop residue throughout winter.
Portions of field edges or corners are good sites for establishing
food plots.
Large fields may be made more productive for quail by extending
fencerows or hedgerows into their centers. Allow fencerows to
revert to brushy and fruit-producing vegetation. Zones separating
large fields should be at least 100 feet wide to ensure an adequate
security cover and to encourage quails to use them.
Food Plants Beneficial To Bobwhite Quail In Alabama.
Plant |
Period Used |
Planting Dates |
Annual lespedezas* |
Fall-Winter |
Feb. 15 - March 31 |
Bicolor lespedeza* |
Fall-Winter |
Feb. 15 - March 30 (seed)
Dec. 1 - March 1 (seedlings) |
Browntop millet |
Summer-Fall |
April 1 - Aug. 15 |
Clovers* |
Summer-Fall
Spring |
Sept. 1 - Oct. 30 |
Corn |
Fall-Winter |
March 15 - May 1 |
Cowpeas |
Fall-Winter |
July 15 - Aug. 15 |
Egyptian wheat |
Fall-Winter |
April 1 - July 30 |
Florida beggarweed* |
Fall-Winter |
Last cultivation of corn |
Partridge pea* |
Winter |
Feb. 1 - March 31 |
Pearl millet |
Fall-Winter |
April 1 - Aug. 15 |
Plums |
Summer |
Dec. 1 - March 1 (seedlings) |
Sesbania* |
Winter |
April 1 - July 1 |
Soybeans |
Fall-Winter |
May 15 - July 15 |
Wheat |
Spring |
Sept. 1 - Nov. 15 |
* Denotes reseeding annual or
perennial that persists with periodic maintenance. |
For more information, call your
county Extension office. Look in your telephone directory under
your county's name to find the number.
For more information, contact your county Extension office. Visit http://www.aces.edu/counties or look in your telephone directory under your county's name to find contact information.
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work in agriculture and
home economics, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, and other related
acts, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Alabama
Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M University and Auburn
University) offers educational programs, materials, and equal
opportunity employment to all people without regard to race, color,
national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.
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