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.
