Managing for blue quail in bobwhite country

Blue quail are sympatric (i.e., their ranges overlap) with bobwhites over much of the western one-third of Texas, generally west of the 100th meridian. They share the same diet as bobwhites, but typically occupy more "open" habitats than bobwhites, at least in the Rolling Plains. In south Texas, blue quail (the chestnut-bellied subspecies) occupy more inhospitable habitats (from our perspective at least) than bobwhites, e.g., dense prickly pear flats and blackbrush thickets.

Blue quail tend to be better survivors than bobwhites in the same range. I think of them as Spanish goats whereas the bobwhites tend to be more akin to Angoras, i.e., the blue is a better "hustler." A blue quail will almost always have some food in its crop, and generally it will contain 2-4 times more food than a bobwhite taken at the same time of the day. Spring and summer survival of blue quail west of San Angelo was about thrice that of bobwhites during one study. More recent studies in the Trans-Pecos region suggest that blue quail survived at rates (e.g., 80%) typically higher than those reported for bobwhites. Val Lehmann, who studied quail on the King Ranch for 40 years considered scaled quail to be "somewhat more intelligent than bobwhites." A. S. Jackson (working in the Rolling Plains during the 1940s) reported that evidence of predation on scaled quail was "light" and that scaled quail were apparently less vulnerable to avian predation than were bobwhites.

And yes, bobwhites and blue quail can and do hybridize. The resultant "blobs" are true hybrids, i.e., they are sterile. Blobs are rare, but most hunters who've spent years hunting in the sympatric zone have either seen, or at least heard of, such hybrids. I know one hunter in Fisher County who has killed 11 blobs during his hunting career.

Population trends of blue quail in Texas exhibit the irruptive patterns characterized by bobwhites. For whatever reason, blue quail abundance declined significantly in the late 1980s (circa 1989) and their populations stayed at low levels until they finally began to rebound about 2002. Figures depicting population trends (as determined by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for August roadside counts) for Rolling Plains, South Texas Plains, Edwards Plateau, and Trans-Pecos ecoregions are available at TPW's website (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/planning/quail_forecast/). They have returned with a vengeance over the western portion of the Rolling Plains, south Texas, and the Trans-Pecos since that time. This past season was blue quail hunting akin to that observed in the 1970s over much of west Texas.

Blue quail tend to prefer more xeric sites on the landscape than do bobwhites. They tend towards the more gravelly soils with pear flats/blackbrush ridges in south Texas. They will be found more often on the more heavily grazed and/or shallower sites in the Rolling Plains and Edwards Plateau. As Ty Bartoskewitz (TPWD biologist in Hebronville) related (paraphrased), "if you see jackrabbits you're more likely to see blue quail, if you see cottontails, you’re more likely to see bobwhites."

Relative to management schemes, I see relatively few of you interested in making your bobwhite range more hospitable to blue quail. To do so would mean heavier grazing to create more open country, a problem I hesitate to recommend. Manage your property for bobwhites, and then appreciate the idea that you'll have more scaled quail in the droughty years.

Blues readily accept supplemental feed; whether the feeding actually produces any more quail is debatable (as it is with bobwhites). They will also use water if available, but again, adding water has not been proven to increase blue quail abundance. Feeders will concentrate blue quail for hunting purposes. If you use feeders in sympatric areas, I would be concerned about overshooting of bobwhites, as I believe they are more vulnerable to hunting than blues.

Establishing "spreader dams" to harvest runoff water has been purported to increase blue quail abundance in the Trans-Pecos, but recent studies there by Scott Lerich and Bobby Buntyn failed to document differences in survival (March - August) or nesting success in areas influenced by spreader dams. The moist-soil sites created by spreader dams did increase herbage by about 24-fold, and arthropod biomass by 6-fold. Accordingly, the sites may be important brooding habitats, or for seed production during fall and winter.

The problem with blue quail isn't so much in producing them, it's in hunting them successfully. Depending on where you're at, hunts may be behind pointing dogs, on a dead-out run, or atop a jeep or dune buggy. To enhance hunting behind dogs, keep in mind that blue quail are a product of their environment. Don't expect them to hold for dogs if the country looks like pavement.

I've enjoyed excellent dog work on blue quail in the Rolling Plains, especially under two situations. First, the day after a significant snowfall (e.g., 3 inches) affords excellent dog work as it precludes the blue quail from running. Second, using a "divide and conquer" technique in an area that has sufficient grass cover to hold the birds once they're scattered. The former is impossible to plan, while the latter hinges on conservative grazing.

For more information check out the TeamQuail website (http://teamquail.tamu.edu).