bobwhite

The Show Me State is on a major upswing when it comes to bobwhites, with the west-central region of the state coming on the strongest.

Turns out, the chunky, earth tone flock of birds that were contentedly scratching and pecking at the ground outside our kitchen windows were bobwhite quail.

Caption: A nice mess of Oklahoma bobwhites taken during a hunt in 2008.

We collected bobwhite reproductive information from a total of 3935 radio-tagged bobwhites (x = 69 [site.sup.-1], SD = 31.37) across 8 years (1999-2006), resulting in 2499 nests ([bar.x] = 44 [site.sup.-1], SD = 24.11).

com) is probably one of the best known, with hunts focused on bobwhites. For blues, Mearns's, and Gambel's, do some research with International Adventure (internationaladventure.com).

The first step to bringing back bobwhites or pheasants--or any other at-risk species, for that matter--in your area is contacting your local NRCS office or the nearest state wildlife biologist.

Discussion--Northern bobwhites ate seeds of all 45 species offered to them.

This luxury increased when I started raising a native breed, the Bobwhite. This quiet time became moments filled with learning and relaxation.

While hunting opportunities are limited, there are still places such as the Burnt Oak Lodge at Crawford that loudly and proudly claims to hold wild bobwhites.

Data from ongoing studies show the number of Northern Bobwhites has plummeted more than 80 percent in 40 years due to large-scale farming, forestry, and building.

The quail "breadbasket" of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas still provide the best numbers of bobwhites. In the southeast, habitat improvements are helping, and numbers for all western quail species are strong across the board.

"We're even starting to get birds nesting up here, like bobwhites."

The family liked watching the bobwhites dive down for their dinner.

Even a bobcat may use a large burrow to hide and cool itself, while birds such as bobwhites, rabbits and lizards also find refuge in the burrows.

Plum is important to northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus, Guthery et al., 2005; Hiller and Guthery, 2005) and lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus, Donaldson, 1969) for resting, escape and thermal cover.