I heard a BobWhite Quail today

CarlinsDarlin · Moderator Joined: Jul 02, 2004 Posts: 1420

...and it made me grin ear to ear. When I was a kid, quail were everywhere around here. You could hear them all the time. But it's been years since I heard one. We've let a lot of our place "wild up" as have some of our neighbors in the last few years, so maybe the quail are returning. It was a little thing, but it gave me a little hope Smile

Kathy

darwinsdog · Heavy Crude Joined: Jun 27, 2008 Posts: 170

Gambel's quail are common where I live. I see them nearly every day. They're quite tame, in fact. As a kid in Illinois I shot bobwhites & ate them. I haven't shot a quail in decades but I imagine that before long I will be eating the Gambel's quail & other wildlife. Sad, but probably necessary for survival.

Ludi

That's great, Kathy! Quail are pretty particular about the habitat they like. They like bunch grasses more than turf grasses - turf grasses are hard for them to walk through with their little legs. A lot of people in my area planted turf-forming pasture and hay grasses, so there are fewer quail.

Some folks are trying to re-establish the native bunch grasses. We're not able to do much with this ourselves, because pasture restoration is durn expensive and/or time consuming. We're hoping over time with careful grazing we can get more bunch grasses growing and crowd out the darn exotic King Ranch Bluestem.
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startswithearthquakes · Tar Sands Joined: May 27, 2008 Posts: 93

Havn't heard any here in several years either.
BUT, I am about to buy alot.

Want some too?

Bobwhites. - http://www.chukarhatchery.com/id71.html

Ring Neck pheasants. http://www.cacklehatchery.com/gamebirdpage.html

CarlinsDarlin · Moderator Joined: Jul 02, 2004 Posts: 1420

I have heard (but have no experience with it) that raising baby quail is very difficult. Someone said to expect as much a 50% of them to die before maturity. Have you raised them before? I'd love to raise some to re-introduce here, too. Just one more iron in the fire I don't have time for right now, though...

Waterthrush

Grassland birds are the group that collectively are in the biggest trouble right now due to development and changes in farming practices. There are big efforts going into trying to get their numbers back up. It's a special treat to hear one.

I hope those of you with land try to include all the critters in your plans!

frankthetank

Early this spring when i was north of town here looking at some property a friend had bought, we came across a few male pheasants in the road. Those have got to be one of the prettiest birds out there.

I use to hunt grouse, which are very good eating.
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doodlebug2 · Tar Sands Joined: May 25, 2008 Posts: 52

I hear them all the time. Modern farming methods may have hurt populations as the fields are cut so low. They are great to hear anytime, and some no till farming helps them.