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Bobwhite Quail on Your Land: Tips on Management for Georgia and the Southeast Cooperative Extension Service • The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences 83
Table of Contents
QUAIL SPECIES ...........................................................................................................3 QUAIL NEEDS ...............................................................................................................3 Seasonal Needs and Activities .......................................................................................4 PLANT SUCCESSION AND EDGE ...........................................................................................5 LAND IMPROVEMENT .............................................................................................................9 Open Habitats and Edges ..............................................................................................................9 Croplands and Their Edges .....................................................................................................10 Prescribed Burning ..................................................................................................................10 Grazing ....................................................................................................................................10 Mowing ....................................................................................................................................10 Herbicides................................................................................................................................10 Tilling Fallow Fields .................................................................................................................10 Broomsedge Fields ..................................................................................................................11 Pastures ..................................................................................................................................11 Woodlands and Edges ......................................................................................................................11 Thinning ...................................................................................................................................11 Pine Understory Fires ..............................................................................................................12 Forest Edges ...........................................................................................................................14 Plantings........................................................................................................................................14 Food Patches ..........................................................................................................................14 MANAGEMENT PLAN ................................................................................................16 Map Topographic Features and Land Use ...................................................................16 Identity Management Units............................................................................................16 Land Management Decisions ........................................................................................16 Land Design
17 I I . . . . . . . . . . . I I . , ... I I I I ........ I I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I I .................. I I " I I I I I I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I I . . . . . . . . . . . . . I I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MEASURING SUCCESS .............
II ................................................................................
18 Quail Hunt Report ...........................................................................................................19 Quail Observation Record .............................................................................................19 Estimating Age and Growth ..........................................................................................19 MORTALITY FACTORS ..............................................................................................20 Weather...........................................................................................................................20 Pesticides ........................................................................................................................20 Predation .........................................................................................................................20 HUNTING REGULATIONS ................................ ,.........................................................20 STOCKING AND FEEDING ........................................................................................21 Stocking ..........................................................................................................................21 Feeding ...........................................................................................................................21 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................22 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................24 Bobwhite Quail on Your Land: Tips on Management for Georgia and the Southeast Bobwhite quail are a symbol of quality rural life
on southern farms and forests. Quail are welcome
everywhere but they have declined on many lands.
This bulletin gives suggestions on how to manage
habitats to increase and maintain quail popula­
tions. The strategy is to know the needs of quail
and manage land to provide for those needs.
Bobwhite quail do not need wilderness and truly
natural areas. In fact, quail were not common in
the Southeastern wilderness. Early naturalists de­
scribed an abundance of deer. bear, turkeys, wa­
terfowl and other game but they hardly mentioned
quail. As land was cultivated and hunting increased
many wildlife species declined. Quail, on the other
hand, found the new conditions ideal and they
prospered.
Quail were unusually numerous from 1800 to
1940 as an accident of history. That time might
be described as the "Old South" when rural land
was dominated by a type of agriculture and land
use that incidentlly favored high quail populations.
Fields were small and fencerows were brushy. Crop
residues, weed seeds, and insects were plentiful.
Predators were considered varmints and were per­
secuted. Use of pesticides was low.
Since 1940 deer and turkey have made a come­
back as our attitudes and land Llse changed-but
quail have declined on most lands. Quail in the
Southeast will probably never again return to the
widespread abundance they once briefly enjoyed
(although they are still numerous in certain places).
Lands with consistently abundant quail are usually
the result of management aimed at helping quail.
usually mass reared for food. The "Mexican quail"
is a smaller, lighter colored subspecies of bobwhite
found in Mexico. State agencies and private in­
dividuals released Mexican quail in some South­
eastern states before 1950. Contrary to rumor they
did not survive as a distinct race and had no lasting
impact on native bobwhites.
Facts About Bobwhite Quail
• Quail are social-live in groups called
covies.
• Weight six or seven ounces. Florida quail
about five ounces.
• Home range varies with habitat quality­
covies commonly use 10 to 100 acres.
• Usually less than 20 percent live more
than a year.
• Lay 14 + /- eggs. Less than 20 percent
of nests hatch successfully.
• Quail wilt renest two or three times in
continuing attempts to bring off a brood.
Later nests have fewer eggs.
• Eggs require 23 days to hatch.
• Nest losses are due to weather (exces­
sive rain or drought), mowing. pesticides.
cotton rats, opossums, raccoons, dogs,
rat snakes, kingsnakes and others. Con­
trary to rumor, fire ants destroy very few
quail nests.
• Nesting period is April to October. peak
varies throughout the range and occurs
sometime between May and August.
QUAIL SPECIES
Quail are members of the chicken family. Several
species are native to North America. but the bob­
white quail is the only species native to the South­
east. The Southeast has two races of bobwhite­
the northern and the Florida. Their Florida race is
darker and smaller. The scaled, blue, valley, Gam­
bel's. California and Mearns quail are western spe­
QUAIL NEEDS
Some game animals, like deer, are managed
largely by hunting to keep populations in balance
with habitat. Quail management is much more dif­
ficult. Understanding the quai/'s food and cover
needs is the key to quail management.
cies. The Coturnix quail, an easily domesticated
Bobwhite quail are hard to manage because they
European and Middle Eastern species, is the one
are particularly vulnerable to predation and they
3
depend on a wide variety of food plants which
occurs in a relatively small area. (See Tables 1 and
2, pages 7 and 8.) To escape predators efficiently
they need a habitat having relatively bare ground,
well-covered ("roofed over") with a canopy of veg­
etation. Hard, woody stems provide better escape
cover than soft 'flexible vegetation.
To get a view of how a quail sees its world, lie
down on the ground and look at the habitat with
your eyes six inches above the ground. As a quail
you are a good runner and scratcher but your legs
are only two inches long. Can you recognize the
elements of a good home? You will see that large
areas of very thick grass will pose a problem for
walking and will also hide predators. If no roof of
stems and leaves covers your head, you will be
vulnerable to attack from above. Do you see any
suitable food in your field of view? Are any safe
nesting sites nearby? Is this a haven to lead your
chicks searching for succulent insects? Safe pas­
sageways under the roof of vegetation must lead
to everything you need. These are the compo­
nents of good quail habitat. (See Figure 1, page
6.)
Seasonal Needs and Activities
Quail activities and needs vary as the seasons
change. If your land is to be a safe and productive
haven for quail, you must provide for their needs
throughout the year. There can be no weak link.
Spring
Spring starts when buds break and leaves begin
to expand. Insects become more abundant. Quail
coveys (social groups) begin to break up in March
as the birds become territorial and seek mates.
The males begin their familiar "bob-bob-white" call
in late winter and increase calling as spring days
lengthen. Coveys may re-group at night but males,
especially, become increasingly hostile toward each
other during the day as they seek a mate. Once
a pair has bonded, the hen seeks a suitable nest
Site. She looks for clumpy cover (well roofed over)
that allows her easy access without being seen.
She prefers cover with small openings here and
there. Broomsedge fields with blackberries are an
example of good nesting habitat. In habitats which
are burned periodically quail seem to prefer nest­
ing in vegetation burned one or two years previ­
ously. They nest less often in fresh regrowth. The
home range of nesting quail may be less than 20
acres.
The hen makes a nest of grasses and leaves in
a suitable hidden place and lays an egg a day for
a total of about 14 eggs in her first nest. She in­
cubates these eggs for 23 days, with brief times
off the nest for feeding. The nest has only about
4
one chance in five of hatching successfully. Pre­
dators, disturbance and bad weather claim the rest.
After the eggs hatch, the hen broods the young
briefly and then leads them away to a suitable area
for rearing. They will not return to the nest. The
hen does not feed the young. She leads them to
places where they can find insects (not seeds)
which will form the bulk of their diet as they grow.
Often both parents accompany the young. The
male may share brooding duties.
If the young are to survive, the brood-rearing
habitat must have abundant insects yet be well
roofed over with vegetation or it must be within a
few feet of escape cover. Cover and insects are
what fill the quail's needs at this time-not the
developing grain that will feed them after they are
grown.
Summer
Summer starts when the rush of spring growth
is over and all the leaves are fully expanded. The
needs during spring begin to overlap with fall needs
as many broods are in different stages of devel­
opment. Quail that failed to nest successfully the
first time will try another time or two. June, July
and August are the most important months for
nesting. Often a very successful late hatch pro­
vides more birds for fall hunting than successful
early hatches. Excessive rain, severe drought and
losses to cotton rats, certain snakes, predatory
birds and mammals, pesticides and other causes
limit survival of the young. Providing needs for
nesting and brood rearing is the aspect of quail
management that is least understood and least
under the manager's control. Quail chicks are un­
able to fly for two weeks after hatching and they
suffer about 70 percent loss at this time.
Fall
A grown brood and its parents form a covey.
Unsuccessful birds and other coveys may join
them. Food and cover are at their peak. The quail's
diet expands to include seeds of herbaceous
plants, berries, acorns, other tree seeds and green
leaves, as well as insects. Quail may move to con­
centrated seed sources. Some birds may leave
their home area and join other coveys some dis­
tance away. Their home range in fall may cover
up to 100 acres or more, but a covey of quail may
confine its activities to 20 acres or less if food and
cover are good.
Winter
Winter begins as shortening days and colder
weather cause leaves to wither and fall. Seeds
near thickets become increasingly valuable as
weeds die down and cover decreases. Quail do
eat greens and insects, but the dwindling supply
of seeds is their primary remaining food. Birds in
a covey roosts at night in a tight little circle with
their heads facing out. Latecomers to a complete
roosting circle may climb on top in order squeeze
in or they may form a new circle nearby. As winter
advances covey numbers lose members to hunt­
ers and predators. Snow and ice make quail es­
pecially vulnerable. As coveys lose individuals, the
survivors may join to form a larger group. Coveys
commonly vary between six and 20 members.
PLANT SUCCESSION AND EDGE
In the Southeast, Mother Nature works hard to
fill vacant land with forests of one kind or another.
Weeds and grasses are the first plants to colonize
bare soil. After a few years shrubs and seedling
trees show through the weeds. As more years
pass the land becomes a thicket of saplings, then
pole-sized trees start crowding each other out.
Often pines dominate the early stages but even­
tually, after a human lifetime or more, large hard­
woods will likely be the most common trees. This
process is called plant succession and quail have
a particular place in it. That place is during the
early stage of succession when the land is weedy
or brushy, especially if there are thickets inter­
spersed where quail can find refuge for hiding.
Vast areas of bare ground or unbroken, dense for­
ests are both unsuitable for quail. (See Figure 2,
page 9.)
Quail may also occupy a forest with widely
spaced trees which allow sunlight to nourish wee­
dy or brushy growth on the forest floor. Of course,
if suitable habitats are interspersed with dense for­
ests, quail may use these forests.
Habitat edge is where two habits join. It is often
better for quail than uniform habitat. Where a field
meets a forest, pond or fencerow is an intersection
where there is often a great diverSity of types and
heights of vegetation.
5
~WINTER
Food and cover become scarcer due to decom­
position of seed, plowing, burning. Bicolor I, bush hogged corn, high tannin sorghums will help quail now. Mortality is high, but 20% of birds will survive. Survivors
pair up.
•
Wild seeds and
cultlvatad crops ara at peak.
Living Is easy for quail.
Abundant food and habitat
now do not guarantee high
quail populations
next year. Time
to harvest is
now.
Quail like "clumpy" nesting cover best. Lay 14 + eggs. Late clutches have less. Peak nesting is In late May. Quail need brood rearing habitat-nearly bare ground
with a canopy of corn, Weeds, or othar vegetation. Baby
chicks need Insacts mora than seed.
Figure 1. Quail Needs through the Year.
6
..
Table 1: Preferred Bobwhite Food Plants
Beggar weeds
Ragweeds
Common lespedeza
Corn
Korean clover
Partridge peas
Oaks
Milk peas
Sumacs
Bush clovers
Pines
Soy bean
Cowpeas
Jewel-weeds
Dogwoods
Sweet-gum
Wild beans
Sorghum
Hog peanut
Panic grasses
Black locust
Joh nson grass
Wheat
Honeysuckles
Sassafras
Smartweeds
Vetches
Crab grass
Paspalums
Ash
Poor Joe
Bull grass
Spu rred butterfly peas
Grapes
Dove weeds
Foxtail grasses
Cranesbill
Wood sorrels
Sericea
Nut rushes
Bicolor
Blackberries
Nightshades
Beggar ticks
Ground nut
COASTAL
PLAIN
PLATEAU
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MOUNTAIN
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o
SEED PLANT
PIEDMONT
8
16
0
8
16
0
8
16
0
8
16
AVERAGE IMPORTANCE VALUE
Landers and Johnson, 1976.
7
Table 2: Foods Eaten by Quail in Spring, Summer, and Early Fall in Longleaf-Slash Pine.
Spring
Food
Woody plant seed
Beautyberry
Blackberry
Blueberry and huckleberry
Maple
Oak
Red bay
Loblolly pine
Poison oak and poison ivy
Sumac
Wax-myrtle
Other
Subtotal
Legume seed
Butterfly pea
Bush lespedeza
Common and kobe lespedeza
Milkpea
Partridge pea
Pencil-flower
Rhynchosia
Tephrosia
Tick-clover
Wildbean
Other
Subtotal
Grass seed
Bristlegrass
Panicum
Paspalum
Uniola
Other
Subtotal
Spurge seed
Croton
Noseburn
Rush-foil
Spurge
Stillingia
Subtotal
Sedge seed
Beak-rush
Flatsedge
Nut-rush
Sedge
Subtotal
Other plant seed
Buttercup
Buttonweed
Geranium
Gold star-grass
Oxalis
Plantain
Serinea
Violet
Other
Subtotal
Green plant leaves
Animal matter
Ants
Beetles
True bugs'
Grasshoppers
Leafhoppers
Spiders
Other
Subtotal
*Number of Crops examined.
Reid and Goodrum, 1979.
8
43
Vol.
a
8.8
7.1
8.4
2.8
0.4
1.0
Freq.
13.9
4.6
11.6
2.3
2.3
2.3
Summer
35
Vol.
Freq.
2.1
2.0
12.8
2.9
2.6
< 0.1
31.1
7.0
4.6
1.5
0.5
1.6
0.2
0.1
0.4
<0.1
0.2
0.1
7.0
7.0
4.6
16.3
2.3
7.0
4.6
7.0
4.6
< 0.1
4.6
7.0
0.1
17.0
< 0.1
<0.1
< 0.1
17.1
4.6
39.5
9.3
2.3
2.3
< 0.1
2.3
0.2
0.2
2.3
<0.1
1.4
1.7
0.1
3.1
2.3
2.3
20.9
2.3
3.0
< 0.1
0.8
0.1
2.7
3.4
4.5
0.8
< 0.1
15.3
14.4
4.6
2.3
2.3
2.3
7.0
7.0
4.6
9.3
2.3
Early fall
14
Vol.
Freq.
5.7
5.7
11.4
5.7
19.8
0.9
7.1
0.9
1.5
14.3
14.3
3.3
4.4
<0.1
3.1
0.4
20.0
5.7
8.6
17.1
3.6
0.1
0.1
28.6
5.7
5.7
11.7
0.9
21.4
<0.1
<0.1
<0.1
<0.1
14.2
14.2
14.2
7.1
0.1
7.1
0.9
14.2
21.4
7.1
9.0
1.6
2.1
3.9
<0.1
<0.1
7.6
17.1
42.8
31.4
2.8
2.8
2.9
3.6
17.1
8.6
<0.1
0.1
42.4
8.0
1.9
85.7
50.0
50.5
2.8
1.9
0.5
7.1
<0.1
6.1
15.6
1.9
7.1
7.1
7.1
21.4
<0.1
5.7
<0.1
7.1
10.4
57.1
0.5
21.4
6.5
10.4
0.5
0.8
<0.1
2.8
2.8
0.9
7.1
5.7
20.0
<0.1
0.9
< 0.1
7.1
48.8
< 0.1
0.8
2.0
0.2
5.9
1.0
7.0
<0.1
13.9
39.5
13.9
16.3
4.6
2.4
4.7
0.4
22.4
0.1
17.1
31.4
11.4
80.0
2.8
<0.1
4.2
1.4
7.1
14.3
28.5
7.1
35.7
0.1
7.0
<01.
4.6
11.2
41.2
17.1
7.5
20.2
21.4
14.2
7.1
Plant Succession and Quail I
CD
cO'
.­:::T
-
-
o
High Quail Use - - ­
'I'
I'
2
3
5
25
10
50
75
100
Time in Years
Figure 2. Plant Succession and Quail.
LAND IMPROVEMENT
Control and manipulate plant succession to
maintain land with suitable food and cover for quail.
In more arid parts of the U.S. the open or brushy
habitats which quail require may exist naturally and
require little management or maintenance. This is
not usually so in the Southeast. Either set back
plant succession, or work to maintain existing veg­
etation, or replace succession with plantings. Dif­
ferent percentages of desirable and undesirable
plants will survive on different sites. Use your eye,
experience, and knowledge in manipulating or
maintaining the habitat. There are three main op­
tions.
1. Manage open habitats by: burning, mow­
ing, grazing, herbicides, or tilling (set back
succession).
2. Manage woodlands by selective thinning
and burning (set back or steer succession
while maintaining important trees and un­
derstory vegetation.)
3. Plant food and cover crops (replace natural
succession).
Open Habitats and Edges
Open habitats include croplands, fallow fields
and fence rows , open forest understory and pas­
tures. These existing groundcover plants are the
primary key to quail production on most quail lands.
Groundcovers vary in their ability to produce food
and cover for quail. They all need a periodic set­
back of plant succession to prevent them from
becoming forests. Means of setback are fire, graz­
ing, mowing, herbicides and tilling.
9
Croplands and Their Edges
Corn, sorghum, soybeans, wheat, oats, pea­
nuts, sunflowers and other agricultural crops may
provide excellent brood rearing habitat. Recent re­
search shows that quail broods use the middles
of large fields as well as small ones. Create suit­
able nesting habitat and escape cover along field
edges by several means: plantings (see Plantings,
page 14); leave uncultivated strips; leave strips of
grain unharvested; or let fencerows grow up to
bushes, Bermuda grass, ragweed and other
weeds. When fields are bare, quail may avoid these
strips; however, once crops are developing, quail
will use brushy and weedy strips for nesting and
roosting habitat. The width of a field border is up
to you. Fifteen feet is okay but twice as wide is
better.
Prescribed Burning
Fire in open or brushy habitats (and under cer­
tain kinds of pine forest) sets back plant succes­
sion and stimulates regrowth. It provides many of
the same benefits as harrowing but at less ex­
pense. A prescribed fire is one set with a goal and
a plan.
Fire may favor grasses over annual weeds in
some cases. As with harrowing, the time of year
helps determine the kinds of plants that will pros­
per afterwards. Burning temporarily destroys cov­
er and makes quail more vulnerable to predation
in the short term. Often the best time to burn is
late winter and early spring because these burns
are followed by quick regrowth as the weather
warms.
Early winter burns deprive quail of cover for long
periods which makes them especially vulnerable
to predation by wintering hawks and owls. Many
of these predators will migrate back north before
bud break.
Summer burns are recommended at times, par­
ticularly as a means of controlling woody vege­
tation. Summer burns, however, risk destroying
quail nests and small chicks.
How often should you burn? The richer the soil
the faster plants grow and the more often burning
is necessary. Vegetation on very poor soils may
be slow to recover. A mosaic of a one to four year
old burned areas often works well to insure a mix­
ture of food and cover. Annual fires prevent black­
berries, runner oaks and certain other desirable
plants from fruiting because they set fruit on stems
which grew the year before. Burns adjacent to
existing cover allow a mix of open areas and cover.
A greater variety of plants results from a mosaic
of burns than when large areas are given uniform
treatment. Some environments need burning more
10
often than others. Exclude fire from choice thick­
ets. Rake debris away from tree trunks to protect
desirable fruit bearing trees like oaks and cherries.
Always contain prescribed fires within a man­
made or natural firebreak. Get help from experi­
enced personnel when conducting fires. Bulletins
on controlled fire are available from the county
office of your University of Georgia Extension Ser­
vice. Burning permits and technical assistance are
available from the Georgia Forestry Commission.
Also, read the section on fire in pine understories
on page 12.
Grazing
Cattle, goats and sheep can maintain areas of
short vegetation which can be very desirable when
interspersed with cover. Overgrown windrows of
branches and trunks left after logging, brushy
ditch banks and dense thickets of briars are good
kinds of cover which farm animals won't overuse
if pickings are better in the open field. Brief periods
of intensive grazing act as fire, harrowing or mow­
ing which will setback plant succession. If grazing
continues too long, however, it may be detrimental.
Cattle are quick to remove desirable quail plants
such as legumes. Watch especially the edges of
woodlots. When they begin to open up, damage
has been done. Grazing is usually a spring and
summer management tool.
Mowing
Mowing functions much like grazing and it has
the added advantage of being very selective. Mow
at anytime of year to suppress unwanted growth
as needed. Avoid mowing nesting and brood rear­
ing cover from May to September.
Herbicides
Herbicides are available in a great variety of for­
mulations for spraying on foliage, treating tree
trunks, or treating soil (to set back plant succes­
sion). Get professional advice before using these
materials.
Tilling Fallow fields
Harrowing tends to inhibit some grasses and
hardwood sprouts, and make way for annual
weeds that produce seeds, insects and greens for
quail. Use a tractor to drag a disc harrow over old
fields and open forest understories.
The time of harrowing is important. Try harrow­
ing small plots at different times throughout the
year and note what weeds grow. Note which plots
quail use at different time of year. Results will vary
with the season and locality. Harrow between early
fall and early spring before greenup to stimulate
blackberries and desirable weeds such as rag­
weeds, Florida beggarweed, partridge pea, large
seeded grasses and other annuals. Fall harrowing
offers the advantage of supplementing natural
growth with wheat or other fall planted grain. Early
spring harrowing allows quail to use the cover all
winter. Spring and summer harrowing may in­
crease Florida beggarweed and cranesbill gera­
nium. July harrowing on certain sites in South
Georgia may produce solid stands of Florida pul­
sey which makes an excellent environment for in­
sect production. The best seed production will
occur during the first and second years after har­
rowing. When broomsedge increases and seed
bearing annuals decline, it's usually time to harrow
again. A rotation is often best. A field or field edge
should have harrowed portions in various stages
of regrowth.
Broomsedge Fields
Abandoned agricultural fields often revert to rel­
atively uniform stands of broomsedge-a perennial
grass that often grows in clumps two to four feet
tall. Broomsedge fields can be excellent roosting
and nesting habitat but they can be poor produc­
ers of seeds, insects and diversity. Increase plant
diversity by periodically harrowing strips and
patches in the field. Avoid harrowing sections al­
ready covered with desirable vegetation. Time of
harrowing will affect the outcome. (Refer to pre­
vious section on tilling fallow fields.) Try a three­
year rotation so each year there is a mixture of 1­
2, and 3-year-old cover.
Improve a dense woods for quail by harvesting
some trees. The extra light on the ground will allow
food and cover plants to thrive. This also gives
quail a safer refuge from which to feed on seeds
and fruits that fall from the trees.
When choosing trees for removal you must inev­
itably make trade-offs among timber value, growth
potential and value to quail and other wildlife. There
is no one proper way to thin woodlands. A wildlife
enthusiast often prefers a variety of trees to a pure
stand or monoculture. Oaks, pines, elms, sweet­
gums, sugar-berries, black cherries, persimmons,
dogwoods and blackgums all produce fruits and
seeds used by quail. (See Table 3, page 12.) Dur­
ing any year certain of them will have good seed
production.
There is no set rule as to the number of trees
to remove when thinning. Heavier thinning will put
more light on the ground and will stimulate un­
dergrowth. This undergrowth may be excellent or
poor for quail depending on the soil and previous
history of the site. Gain experience by thinning a
few acres. Wait a year or two for the response
before thinning large areas. Keep in mind that quail
are often unable to use a forest habitat with too
sparse an understory because they are vulnerable
to predation. Consider, too, that certain old natural
forests have become increasingly rare. If you have
a special woods, treasure it as it is.
Get an accurate measure of the volume and
professional help before selling any trees. The Uni­
versity of Georgia Extension Service has bulletins
on timber harvest to help you.
Pastures
Pastures are often excellent for insect produc­
tion but dense grasses are inhospitable for very
small quail chicks. Manage pasture edges for nest­
ing habitat and escape cover the same as for ag­
ricultural fields.
Mow pastures by starting in the middle and cir­
cling out to the edges. This will keep the birds in
the cover and drive them to the edge of the field.
If you begin mowing at the edge and finishing in
the center of the field, quail trapped in the middle
will be vulnerable to attack by hawks, egrets, and
other predators.
Woodlands and Edges
Thinning
Only a fixed amount of sunlight strikes a given
piece of land. Decide which small plants and trees
will get that light to grow and produce Quail cover,
foods or wood products.
11
Table 3: Trees with Value for Quail
Species
Remarks
Honey
Fall food highly ranked as a food source
(nuts, buds, catkins).
Summer fruit, important because of long ripening period and frequency of good seed years. Good for fencerows and field edges. Quail eat fallen fruit. Fruit persists on tree into winter months. Quail eat fallen fruit. Fruit is important, but remains on the tree for only a short period after rip­
ening. Good fall color. Nuts provide a food source from late summer to the next spring. Shagbark and mockernut are preferred mast pro­
ducers for wildlife. Wildlife use only a small percent of the annual bitternut crop. Quail eat residue left by squirrels. Produces food in early spring. Impor­
tant because of its widespread occur­
rence. Good food source in mid spring, early summer. Quail and turkey eat fallen fruit. Oaks rate at the top in value to wildlife. On drier sites, a good balance of spe­
cies in the white and red oak groups will help maintain a consistent level of mast production. Quail peck at pieces of acorns left by squirrels, and other animals. These acorn fragments are often very abundant. Ripened fruit are available to wildlife for a long period in the fall because they fall a few at a time over a long period. Seeds are especially good quail food for wildlife. Longleaf pine shortleaf is excellent. Pine types with associated hardwoods provide food sources for many wildlife species. Small berries are an important food source for many summer and wintering birds as well as quail. Produces abundant small seeds. A preferred quail food in late fall. Widespread on well-drained sites. A prolific seed bearer. Seed will persist on cone and can be used by many types of birds and some mammals through winter months. Fallen pods are a favorite deer food as Locust
are small trees and stump sprouts. Beech,
American
Cherry,
Black
Dogwood
Gum,
Black
Hickory,
Bitternut
Mockernut
Shagbark
Pignut
Red
Maple
Mulberry,
Red
Oak
Persimmon,
Common
Pine,
Loblolly
Longleaf,
Slash,
Shortleaf
Sugarberry
Sweetgum
Yellow
Poplar
Black
Locust
12
Birds and rodents feed on pods. Seeds are good food source for quail. Pine Understory Fires
Southern pines (longleaf, shortleaf, loblolly or
slash) vary in their ability to produce quail. The
variation is due to the understory and soil. Very
sparse pine forests with a good understory are
better for quail than dense pines which often have
little or no suitable groundcover for quail. Hard­
wood sprouts, small trees, gallberries, broom­
sedge, wiregrass or other vegetation are examples
of pine understories.
Southern pines of suitable size are resistent to
properly managed fire. Timber managers periodi­
cally burn pine understories to prevent hardwoods
from growing large enough to compete with the
pines. Fires can remove excess pine needles and
allow certain plants to grow while inhibiting others.
Many plants that thrive after a fire are good for
quail.
Avoid burning large areas. Large burned areas
are less desirable for quail than those which leave
scattered unburned patches of habitat valuable for
nesting, feeding and protection. Sometimes you
can burn with spot fires under conditions which
leave patches of cover. Or you can divide the
woods into a mosaic of smaller sections with fi­
rebreaks. Burn a third of these sections each year
at winter's end. (See Figure 3.)
Figure 3. Fire is a useful tool to manage vegetation
under pines.
Rake around or otherwise protect isolated mast
(seed and fruit) bearing trees in pine stands. like­
wise, avoid burning forest edges if they contain
choice thickets or other desirable plants.
In the Coastal Plain, wiregrass habitats are par­
ticularly interesting. Many quail hunting purists be­
lieve longleaf pine and wiregrass are the finest quail
lands of them all although wiregrass provides no
food for quail. Wiregrass will carry a fire nearly any
time of year. Maintain wiregrass by burning. Har­
rowing and herbicides may permanently destroy
wiregrass. Recommendations for establishing
wiregrass are not known, although it sometimes
sets seed following hot summer fires. If you're
planning a food patch or other soil disturbance,
you may want to avoid a wiregrass area. Vast uni­
form areas of wiregrass may have few quail due
to a scarcity of suitable cover for hiding and es­
cape. (See Figure 4.)
Figure 5. This pine woods has no vegetation to
support quail.
Figure 4. Longleaf Pine and Wiregrass Habitat.
Choosing the right time to burn pinelands is crit­
ical. Early winter burns deprive quail for a tong
time. Burns just before spring greenup allow cover
to re-grow shortly after a fire. But fires after March
15 may destroy turkeys nests. Often ideal condi­
tions for a winter or early spring fire develop after
a cold front brings a soaking rain of at least an
inch. A few days of steady, reliable wind from the
north or west will usually follow. The litter should
be wet right down to the soil (check it). As the litter
dries from the top there is an increasing layer of
flammable material above moist litter. Flash fuels
like dry grasses may burn readily after only a short
drying period-especially if it's windy. When there
is enough dry material to carry a fire, check the
wind and humidity. Humidity should be between
30 percent and 60 percent. A wind speed of 5 to
15 miles per hour will help keep the heat cleared
away from the pine tops and reduce the chance
of scorching tree tops. With no wind, scorching is
likely. Fires may be set to back into the wind (back­
fire) burn at a right angle to the wind (flank fire) or
run with the wind (headfire). Backfires are safest
for beginners. Set fires with a drip torch in strips
or as spots. Do not encircle areas with fire unless
you intend to kill all trees and vegetation within.
Read Extension Bulletin #838, "Prescribed Burn­
ing: A Management Tool" before using fire in pine­
lands.(See Figures 5,6 and 7.)
Figure 6. This pine woods has too much tall
vegetation to be suitable for quail. A controlled fire
and thinning would help.
Figure 7. This pine woods has been created by
thinning and periodic fire to make good quail habitat.
13
Forest Edges
Food Patches
Brushy forest edges are particularly important
for quail. Quail use the dense edge cover to travel
and exploit foods on both sides of the edge. The
brushy edge is often good nesting and brood-rear­
ing habitat. Broaden and improve the forest edge
by thinning. Leave mast-bearing trees and leave a
few rows of grain unharvested in any adjoining
fields along the expanded edge. An expanded for­
est edge may have double or triple the value for
quail of an unimproved forest edge. (See Figure
8.)
There is no single best food for quail. Think about
what you want. A fall grain patch to concentrate
birds for hunting is a common goal. A food patch
planted in separate sections to offer a variety of
foods and bordered by cover can help provide for
quail throughout the year.
Often suitable feeding areas are useless to quail
because they lack nearby cover. Clean agricultural
fields and open grazed woodlots are examples.
Establish strips of cover by planting along field and
forest borders if cover is lacking. Develop hedge­
rows of weeds and bushes between fields.
Blend food and cover to make a multi-purpose
quail habitat patch. A good patch has a variety of
plantings that will provide food and cover. There
are many plant materials to choose from. (See Ta­
ble 4, page 15.) Do a soil test before planting.
Follow the recommendations. Your Georgia Co­
operative Extension Service agent can process
your soil sample for you. Use the following ideas
when designing your food patches:
Plantings
Bare earth is the simplest environment with
which to create food and cover. Bare land needs
everything, and that takes work and money. But
with proper planning you can expect excellent re­
sults. Plan for both food and cover. Food plantings
work best where they adjoin existing cover such
as fallow fields, brushlands, swamps, stream bot­
toms, and forests. Remember that quail travel lit­
tle; therefore, provide food and cover within a bird's
daily range of movement.
Before "edge expansion"
"Narrow quail use zone"
Lhigh quail use ..
After "edge expansion"
'Wide quail use zone'
_----high quail use-------»
Figure 8. Expand forest edges to improve habitat for
quail.
14
Site: A relatively flat site free from erosion
hazard, with good sOil,and surrounded
by quail cover is a good site. One half
to one acre is a good size if your goal
is to create an environment that is good
for quail year round. (There is no mini­
mum size limit.) Many small patches of
one-tenth to one-half acre are better than
one big patch. A few large patches are
more convenient in forest habitat. Avoid
small areas if they are overhung by large
trees. Use a ripper bar to cut tree roots
that extend into food patches.
Border: Enhance escape cover around the pe­
rimeter of the patch with bicolor lespe­
deza, multiflora rose, wild plums,
hawthorns, blackberries or other suita­
ble plants. A border 15 to 30 feet wide
is sufficient.
Interior: Plant small patches of wheat or rye, sor­
ghum, annuallespedezas, corn, clover,
cowpeas, soybeans, partridge pea, mil­
lets or other foods of your choice in strips
or patches. Leave each segment fallow
for several months or a year following
each crop to benefit from annual weeds
that will volunteer in. Always aim to have
some seeds, some insects and some
greens available during each month of
the year.
Table 4: Planting Specifications for Selected Quail Plants
Rate
Planting
Dates
Broadcast:
10 Ibs./acre
No later than
June 1
6.0-6.5
Broadcast:
hulled15 to
20 Ibs./acre
unhulled­
45-60 Ibs./acre
Sept. 1­
Oct. 1
Inoculate seed. Use reseeding
variety. Winter annual.
Moist clays
or loams
6.5-7.0
Broadcast: 2-3
Ibs./acre.
Corn
Fertile,
well­
drained
6.0-6.8
Good for winter greens. Inoculate
seed. Use scarified seed.
Perennial. May die in summer.
Plant to mature before frost. Use
hand seeded full season varieties.
Lespedeza,
Annual:
Korean Kobe
Lespedeza,
bicolor &
thunbergii
All except
sand
6.0-6.5
Space at 8"­
10" in 36/1
rows (ca. 7
Ibs./acre
Broadcast: 30­
35lbs/acre
For winter:
Sept. 1­
Oct. 1
March 15­
June 1
All except
deep sands or
poorly drained
6.0-6.5
Plant
Soil
Beggarweed,
Florida
Clover,
Crimson
Fertile,
moist sandy
soils
All except
poor
Clover,
White
pH
Millet,
Browntop
Millet,
Proso
Well-drained
6.0
Well-drained
6.0
Multi-flora Rose
Upland soils
4-8'
apart
Oats
All
6.0
Plants: 24/1
apart in 36" to
48" rows
Seed: 36"
rows 12-14
Ibs./acre
Broadcast: 20
Ibs/acre
Broadcast: 20
Ibs/acre, Drill
15lbs/acre
Winterduring
dormant
season
Broadcast or
drill:
Time to
Maturity
150-180
days
80-100
days
Other
Use scarified seed; s. Ga. only.
Seed available as food from Nov.­
Feb. Annual.
Feb. 1­
March 1
Seed generally avaitable after first
frost. Annual. Will reseed.
Nov. 1-April 1
for plants
Use scarified seed. Seeds available
in Sept. Use a 0-20-20 fertilizer for
max. seed production. Perennial.
March 1-April
15 for seed
April 1-July 1
April 1-July 1
60 days
Annual.
75 days
Excellent cover-may be a pest.
Propagate from cuttings during
midsummer.
Aug. 15­
Oct. 15
Annual.
2-2V2
Pea,
Partridge
Moist sites
preferred but
will produce
on all
6.0-6.5
Sesame
Well-drained
6.5-7.0
Sorghum,
grain
including
milo and
wheat
All
5.8-6.2
Sunflower
All, but best
on fertile soils
Wheat
Well-drained
heavy
6.0
bushel/acre
Broadcast: 15
Ibs./acre
Rows 30",7
Ibs/acre
Broadcast: 10
Ibs./acre, Drill:
4-5 Ibs. in 36"
rows
36"-44" rows,
2-8" between
plants.
Broadcast: 30
Ibs/acre
Broadcast: 5
Ibs./acre.
Rows: 36/1 12/1
apart in row.
Get further
info from
county agent
Drill: 2
bushels/acre
Wild Plum,
Plant 3­
Winter-during
other shrubs
6' apart
dormant
March 1-April
After soil temp.
reaches 75
degrees F (ca.
July 1)
March 15-July
1
150 days
Seed available as food beginning in
Nov. Annual.
8-100
days
S. Ga. Do not plant on same site 2
years in row due to wilt. Annual.
95-130
days
Plant late and still have grain
before frost. Bird-resistant strains
have durable grain that may last all
winter.
Annual.
June 1­
June 30
Winter-during
dormant
season
N. Ga.: Oct. 15
thru Nov. 1; S.
Ga. Nov. 1
180 days
Available as food beginning about
May. Annual.
season
Carlton, 1987.
15
MANAGEMENT PLAN
Put your ideas together with a management plan.
Your land has its own soil, vegetation, topography,
land use, and history, all of which give the land its
unique personality. If you're like most landowners,
you appreciate many features of your land, not
just quail. Only a few landowners manage their
land primarily for quail. Most want to identify parts
of their land where changes can help quail at little
cost. This bulletin has described the land man­
agement practices you can use for manipulation
of soil and vegetation to improve habitat and there­
by make an environment which will hold more quail.
Use your judgement to integrate quail manage­
ment into existing and future land uses. Now, how
do you go about making a management plan?
Because there is no one best plan, you need to
look at the land, think of the needs of the birds,
then be creative. Make a grid chart like the one
below to avoid overlooking possibilities. List man­
agement units on one side and management op­
tions on the other. Then think about what you want
for each site. Each square in the grid represents
an option. Some are good and some are poor.
Table 5 shows when deficiencies are most likely
to occur on lands managed for quail.
Map Topographic Features and Land Use
First make a land management plan to know
what you've got. Get a topographic map, a soil
map and an aerial photograph. These may be avail­
able from U.S. Geological Survey, ASCS office or
Soil Conservation Service office. Then make a map
that shows the details of the land: property bound­
aries, roads, trails, fencerows, power lines, build­
ings, agricultural fields, fallow fields, pastures and
stands of trees according to species and size. As
you roam around your land, start making notes of
streams, marshes, ponds, rocky outcrops, san­
dhills, animal burrows, den trees, nesting sites of
unusual birds, old house sites, rare plants, Indian
artifact sites or any other special features that in­
terest you. Identify features on the map with names
or numbers. Make notes on the ecological history
and development of your forests or other habitats.
For example. you might note dates and locations
of previous 'fires or grazing, beaver ponds, soil
erosion, soil type, timber harvest, and areas of
young seedlings.
Identify Management Units
After your inventory is complete, identify your
map's habitat types (e.g. broomsedge fields, mixed
hardwood forest, cropland,six-year-old planted
pines, etc.) and special areas (e.g. stream bottom,
hardwood draw, old house site.)
Land Management Decisions
Determine your primary goals for each forest
stand, agricultural field and other management unit
where your goals are primarily utilitarian. Now look
at all your management units and see if there is
an opportunity to improve each one for quail with­
out unduly interfering with your other goals.
16
Thinni ng
: Burning
.2 Edge enhancement
UFood planting
t! Cover planting
±t
~ Tilling
i Fertilizing
E Liming
&Protection
CIS Mowing
i Grazing
++=
:Ii Herbicides
m
Figure 9. Quail Management Decision Grid.
Table 5: Weak Links in Quail Habitat
Spril19 Summer Fall Winter
Escape Cover
Insect Food
Nesting Cover
Brood Rearing
Habitat
Seeds
.
.
..
..
.
.
*
*
.
Stars indicate where quail management is most likely
to be deficient.
Land Design
Quail are the dessert in a beautiful landscape
for many wildlife lovers. Like visiting a fine restau­
rant, a hunt on beautiful land is an event to re­
member. So keep aesthetics in mind as you
execute your management plan. Here are three
tips on designing land:
1. Avoid fragmentation.
2. Create visual variety.
3. Increase edge habitat.
In the same way, breaking large fields into small
ones increases edge. When doing so, avoid mo­
notonous straight lines of habitat edge if you can.
Crop fields have straight edges for practical rea­
sons-they are much more efficient to plow and
plant. If you are willing to trade off some agricul­
tural efficiency, you can also improve the aesthetic
qualities of your cropland as quail habitat. (See
Figure 10.)
Avoid Fragmentation
If a wildlife habitat is reduced in size, fewer spe­
cies of animals are likely to live there. For example,
a small woodlot isolated by bare fields is likely to
have fewer species of wildlife than a similar sized
tract of land that adjoins other wooded habitat. If
these die then it often takes awhile before new
animals find it. This is certainly true for quail. They
are not good travelers and may seldom use iso­
lated pockets of good food and cover. So plan, if
possible, to connect the isolated woodlot to an­
other larger forest by a wooded travel way. With
a mechanism to allow re-population from the larger
habitat, the small woods becomes a part of a larg­
er one.
Remember the characteristics of good quail cov­
er-bare ground and a roof of vegetation.
-~ --­
Figure 10A.
Create Visual Variety
Use your eye to create an interesting landscape.
When you create openings in woodlands or plant
field borders or mast-bearing trees, you join Moth­
er Nature as landscape architect. Mix native tree
species to create variety. Consider selecting trees
for fall color or distinctive appearance. When plant­
ing. consider arrangements that look natural rather
than set about in rows and squares.
Some habitats may seem beautiful to the eye
even though they have no demonstrated utilitarian
benefit. You may want to keep them as they are
for aesthetic reasons.
Increase Edge Habitat
Increase edge habitat by changing the shape of
a field. A square 40-acre field has a mile of edge.
But if the field borders are scalloped into an ar­
rangement of points, bays and crenulations. dou­
ble the prime field edge habitat. It is also much
more interesting to walk and hunt where you can
not see the whole field at once-where rounding
each point or investigating each little bay presents
a new chance for seeing wildlife at close range.
Figure 10B.
Figure 10A. Land before quail management has large
unbroken fields, dense stands of trees, and little
nesting cover. Figure 10B. Land after 20 years of
quail management has less productive fields now in
trees. Large fields have been broken up with strips
of pines, edge fields are left in grassy weedy growth
as nesting cover, and stands of dense pines have
been thinned to stimulate growth of understory plilnta
which is managed by occasional use of fire. Drawings
based on photos in Rosene, 1969.
17
MEASURING SUCCESS How does one measure success at quail man­
agement? Managing wild animal populations is not
like managing a domesticated animal or a culti­
vated crop where progress is easy to observe and
measure. Quail exist amidst an infinite number of
variables and other organisms that are beyond the
landowner's control. The exact number of quail on
your land is unknown and always changing.
A beginner may expect a few simple manage­
ment practices to produce regular successful hunts
and heavy game bags. Things may not work out
that way. It will probably take a few years to notice
a change. To observe this change, keep written
records to document what you see and keep rec­
ords of your hunting success. Cooperate with your
state wildlife agency by sharing your records with
them. Adapt the report forms on the following page
to your needs.
18
Quail Hunt Report
Name _________ Location ________ Date ____ Acres Hunted _____ Number of Hunters _ _ __ Coveys flushed ___ Approximate number of birds seen _ Quail killed _ _ Adult male _ _ Young male _ _
Adult female __ Young female __ Remarks on where birds were found _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - -_ _ __ Remarks on food habits (open quail crops to see what quail have been eating) __________
Other remarks __________________________________
Adapted from Ron Simpson, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, 1976.
Quail Observation Record
Date
Observer _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Location _________________
Nest found _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Number of eggs _ _ Brood observed _ _ Approximate age
(See chart below to estimate age of chicks)
_
Remarks __________________________________________
Estimating Age and Growth
• 1 week or less-covered with down­
can't fly-downy but may have wing
feathers.
• 11-13 weeks-adult size-can distin­
guish sex by examining adult plumage
developing on head.
• 2 weeks-sparrow sized-can fly weak­
• 14 weeks and up-appear as adults with
clearly defined markings on head. Full
growth takes about 15 weeks.
ly.
• 3-4 weeks-between size of sparrow
and up to almost half grown.
• 5-7 weeks-flying well-about half
grown.
• Adults-tiny buffy tips on wing coverts
mean birds are under one year old. With­
out buffy tips birds are one year or more
old.
• 8-10 weeks-adult size but adult color
and pattern undeveloped.
19
MORTALITY FACTORS
Good quail hunting in the fall is primarily the
result of a good hatch earlier the same year. After
a good hatch, survival is important. Despite your
best efforts at quail management many factors be­
yond your control reduce quail numbers. Consider
the following when trying to explain poor success.
Weather
Weather affects the hatchability of quail eggs,
can cause nest desertion, and affects the survival
of the young. In a study of quail reproduction and
weather in Alabama, Dan Speake and Arnold Hau­
gen found that "good quail reproduction is favored
by normal or higher than normal rainfall combined
with lower than normal temperature ..." The poor­
est seasons were very hot or hot-dry seasons.
However, extremely cold, wet weather also causes
mortality to quail broods.
Pesticides
More research is needed, but it is known that
pesticides applied in the course of farming oper­
ations do kill quail within a short time after appli­
cation. For example, parathion on cotton and
lannate on peanuts have killed quail. Quail may die
after they feed on poisoned insects. Chlorinated
hydrocarbons can have a less obvious long term
accumulated effect on reproduction. Other pesti­
cides (e.g. zolone) may have little effect on quail.
Predation
Cotton rats, certain snakes, hawks, cattle egrets,
owls, skunks, opossums, raccoons, foxes, house
cats, dogs and other predators will eat eggs, young
or adult birds. Sometimes controlling one predator
can increase another. For example, cotton rats may
increase and destroy more quail nests if the pre­
dators that eat rats become scarce.
Which predators are most important? It varies.
In a 1973 study of nesting success by Ronald
Simpson in South Georgia, skunks, rodents and
opossums were the major nest predators. Fire ants
have been seen feeding on dead quail and eggs
in unsuccessful quail nests, but research shows
that fire ants have a negligible impact on healthy
quail. Simpson's study showed that less than one
percent of nest predation could be attributed to
fire ants.
Adult quail are sometimes taken by both mam­
mals and predatory birds. Some new studies sug­
gest that certain predatory birds (Cooper's hawks
in particular) account for approximately two thirds
of adult quail lost to predators. Mammals account
for the rest. Many birds of prey are more numerous
20
than 20 years ago due to increased protection and
decreasing use of certain pesticides. Their impact
on quail is under further study. Preliminary data
indicate that managing to improve escape cover,
avoidance of large clean burns, and a delay of
prescribed burning until spring greenup helps quail
escape these and other predators during winter
when cover is most limited.
HUNTING REGULATIONS
Every landowner can legally hunt quail during
the entire open season. How many birds do you
have? How many do you want to shoot?
Estimate the answer to the first question by or­
ganizing drives. Place observers 20 yards apart
and walk through the area in swaths. Count only
birds in coveys and try to avoid recounting birds
by noting where flushed birds settle. Repeat this
count on three different days in representative
habitats before the season. Average your results
and multiply by two for the approximate number
of quail on the land surveyed.
Another way to estimate quail numbers is to
figure that with good dogs you can find 40 percent
of the birds present on an average day. Keep track
of birds found and multiply by 2.5.
How many birds should you shoot? Usually quail
managers don't like to shoot quail from coveys
with six birds or less. Some quail managers set
the harvest limit at between a fourth and a third
of what the population numbers at the start of the
season. If your land is small and surrounded by
other quail habitat which is underhunted, then you
can harvest a higher percentage. Some birds from
surrounding lands will arrive to take the place of
birds removed. Large coveys which appear late in
the season are often formed by the regrouping of
remnants of depleted coveys.
A few landowners shoot all the quail they legally
can because next year's population usually de­
pends more on weather and uncontrolled variables
than by harvest the year before. But leave an am­
ple brood stock for next year.
If you love quail and quail hunting, you will meas­
ure success as memories rather than birds bagged.
From the clear whistle on a spring morning to a
browned bird in the oven after a fall hunt, quail
add to a landowner's enjoyment of his land. If you
feel this way, you will want to stretch what quail
you have to last the season. Think of the days you
will have to hunt, the friends you will invite, and
how many quail you have to meet the needs. Tak­
ing only one or two birds from a covey rise and
letting the singles go is one way to prolong your
hunting. If having a meal of quail for many guests
is your goal, then buy quail to supplement birds
bagged.
STOCKING AND FEEDING Why can't you just forget land management and
simply feed wild birds, stock pen-raised birds, or
both? Feeding and stocking are commonly prac­
ticed. They can work but often do not. These prac­
tices can be expensive-especially stocking.
Stocking
Many private hunting preserves offer quail hunt­
ing on a commercial basis. However, wild quail are
too few to provide clients with quality hunting day
after day, week after week, during a long season.
For example, if a hunting preserve begins the hunt­
ing season with a high quail population of 1000
birds on 1000 acres, about 350 birds are "surplus"
available for harvest. If each guest takes ten birds
per day, then 35 man days of hunting are available.
For example, groups Of four are hosted on two
day hunts, then each hunt will consume about 80
birds. After four such outings the best quail hunt­
ing is over for the year. Repeated hunting makes
the birds become scarcer and warier as they learn
to hide, run and "flush wild" before hunters are
within range.
Paying customers may desire quality in the form
of birds bagged. Stocking is one way to provide
it by simulating a natural experience. Effective
stocking is often done more or less as follows.
On the morning of the hunt while the guide is
greeting the hunters and readying the dogs, an
assistant puts groups of pen-raised birds in re­
lease boxes. He places the boxes in predeter­
mined places, usually in patches of thick cover
where they will not be seen by customers. The
birds walk out of the boxes on their own and the
dogs find them when the hunting party arrives at
the spot. If the birds 'fly well they can closely re­
semble a wild covey, but if single birds are followed
and flushed again they may not fly well the second
time. Wildness and flying ability of released birds
varies depending on how they were raised and
cared for before release. Cages with single birds
as bait are often used to call back and recover
leftover birds at days end. (Note: This practice is
illegal without a permit).
Why not release birds before the season and let
them become wild? Because losses are great and
therefore costs are high. One way is to release
birds prior to nesting and hope that they will nest.
In one experiment Tall Timbers Research Station's
staff released radio-marked, pen-raised hens in the
spring to study their ability to produce young in
the Wild. Their average length of survival was 10.8
days. The longest survivor lasted 50 days, and
died during the study and the other 24 raised 145
chicks.
Some landowners release quail well before the
season to allow them to adapt and become wild.
In a study to evaluate such stocking Tall Timbers
Research Station released several thousand
marked quail 10 weeks before the season. After
weeks of intensive hunting hunters recovered 18
percent of the birds. This is a good recovery for
such a release and in this case these birds rep­
resented one-half of the total kill. The next year
less than one percent more of the remaining re­
leased quail were recovered. This loss raised the
costs of the birds bagged to more than six times
the purchase price-not counting handling costs.
Occasionally a high percentage of released birds
may survive for weeks in an ideal habitat. But re­
leasing quail before the season results in heavy
losses.
In addition to the problem of the short life span
of released quail, pen raised birds have been im­
plicated as disease carriers. In a study by the
Southern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, 67
percent of quail available for release from 27
sources harbored diseases or paraSites. Take steps
to obtain healthy birds when releasing quail or you
can risk infecting wild stocks. Vaccinate birds in­
tended for release for avian pas at about four
weeks of age.
If you want to release birds in Georgia, first pur­
chase a permit from the Georgia Department of
Natural Resources, Game and Fish Division. Mark
released birds by banding or toe clipping, then when
you hunt you can learn your recovery rate of the
released birds. Toe clipping is not as good as band­
ing as up to 30 percent of wild birds have some
toe deformity.
Feeding
Some landowners feed quail as a way of sup­
plementing natural food. Corn or other grain is
scattered in places where quail feed, or is placed
in feeders. Feeding quail, year around, unlike
stocking, can increase the number of quail that
can live on a piece of land especially if foods are
provided over a wide area during times of short­
age. Winter and spring feeding are most likely to
payoff.
Undesirable results may also occur including the
following. Food put out for quail may be eaten by
rats, deer, rabbits, raccoons and other animals.
Feeders may become sites for disease transmis­
sion. Predators may learn to hunt at the feeders
and increase predation. (If you do use feeders,
none produced any young. Meanwhile, 29 wild
place each one in a brushy
birds were also radio marked for comparison. Four
around it so the feeding birds will have a chance
t~licket
or pile brush
21
to escape predators attracted to the site.) Theo­
retically. artificial feeding should work but often it
doesn't. If you do add feeding to your manage­
ment program, keep good records of the amount
and costs of food provided.
Likewise, keep records of numbers of birds seen
and harvested before the feeding program begins
and compare these with numbers afterwards. Then
it will be possible to evaluate the costs and ben­
efits of feeding.
REFERENCES
Many References were useful in preparing this
bulletin. The following were particularly useful.
Carlton, Robert L. 1987. Selected Practices and
Plantings for Wildlife. Bulletin 773. Cooperative Ex­
tension Service. University of Georgia. 11 pp.
Landers, Larry J. and A. Sydney Johnson. 1976.
Bobwhite Quail Food Habits. Tall Timbers Re­
search Station, Tallahassee, Florida. 89 pp.
Landers, Larry J. and Brad S. Mueller. 1986. Bob­
white Quail Managment. Tall Timbers Research
Station. Quail Unlimited, Tallahassee, Florida. 39
pp.
Merck, Lamar. 1982. Prescribed Burning: A Man­
agement Tool. Bulletin 838. Cooperative Extension
Service. University of Georgia. 18 pp.
Reid, Vincent H. and Phil D. Goodrum. 1979. Win­
ter Feeding Habits of Quail in Longleaf-5lash Pine
Habitat. United States Department of Interior, Fish
and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C. 39 pp.
Rosene. Walter. 1969. The Bobwhite Quail: Its Ufe
and Management. Rutgers University Press, New
Brunswick, New Jersey. 418 pp.
Simpson, Ronald C. 1976. Certain Aspects of the
Bobwhite Quail's Ufe History and Population Dy­
namics in Southwest Georgia. Georgia Depart­
ment of Natural Resources, Game and Fish
Division, Atlanta, Georgia. 117 pp.
Stoddard, Herbert L. 1978. The Bobwhite Quail:
Its Habits, Preservation and Increase. Charles
Scribner's Sons. New York. 559 pp.
Speake, Dan W. and Arnold O. Haugen. 1960. Quail
Reproduction and Weather in Alabama. Proceed­
ings of the 14th Annual Conference, Southeast
Association of Game and Fish Commissioners, Bi­
loxi, Mississippi. pp. 85-97.
22
Wilkins, R. Neal. 1988. Expanding Your Quail Hab­
itat. The American Tree Farmer. pg. 10.
I785
When you have a question...
Call or visit your local office
of The University of Georgia's
Cooperative Extension Service.
You'll find a friendly, well-trained
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tion, advice and free publications
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Acknowledgements
I am indebted to several wildlife biologists who assisted me by providing information
and by making helpful comments on the manuscript. They are Sydney Johnson and Phillip
Hale of The University of Georgia; Brad Mueller and Larry Landers of Tall Timbers Research
Station, Ron Simpson of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources; Edward Carlson
of Atlanta, Georgia; and particularly Phyllis E. Jackson for assistance in editing and or­
ganization.
By Jeffrey J. Jackson Extension Wildlife Specialist The Cooperative Extension Service, The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences offers educational programs, assistance and materials to all people
without regard to race, color, national origin, age, sex or handicap status.
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
Forest Resources
Bulletin 1013
Reprinted December 1993
----------~----
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30,1914, The
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the U.S.
Department of Agriculture cooperating.
C. Wayne Jordan, Director
UPO 934474
94-71