Don't Forsake Me Now

Got this e-mail (edited a bit) from a depressed quail hunter in Mills Co.:

We have always had bobwhite quail in Mills County in the past. But, I am running my dog this year on pen raised quail because of a lack of birds.

We have 2,600 acres of prime quail habitiat. We shoot every predator we come across.
We plant some supplemental sunflowers, etc. I fallow disc each winter. We understock and keep our fence lines brushy. We don't shoot many, if any quail.

I know the plight of the little bobwhite is tough, but... I have just about given up hope.

Is anyone doing any work on importing a game bird that might be able to compete better with the current conditions in Central Texas? I'm not talking about pen raised birds that might last over the winter and maybe breed. I'm talking about a bird that could proliferate like the Chinese Pheasants of the midwest. For example, wild Hungarian Partridge or some other game bird.

I'd love any feedback or HOPE you can give me!

+++++++

Well, I wouldn't put my future hope on pheasants, Huns, or other exotic. IF the native, well-adapted bobwhite is struggling (and I agree with you it is), what makes you think an exotic will? Pheasants have been tried in various locations, but only thrive where there is extensive grain-based agriculture (e.g., Texas panhandle). I'm not sure about the history of trasnslocations using chukars, huns, and other game birds, but whatever attempts there have been have met universally with failure, at least in Texas.

Our lots are pretty well cast with our endemic species, in this case bobwhites. I can tell you some of the best properties for quail in west Texas witnessed reductions of 75 to 90% from Nov 2005 to Nov 2006 . . . and nobody I know of has all the answers. The medical community has a word for such blanks -- "idiopathic". In other words, we don't have a clue.

Surely much was due to hot, dry weather, but I dn't believe you can blame all of the implosion on that? Predators? You bet, but I don't think they were any more a factor this year than most years. Disease?? Intriguing ... I'm curious about the role of disease in wild quail dynamics. We know hardly anything about their impacts on wild populations.

The National Anthem of Quail Management (according to disciples of The Bobwhite Brigade) is Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird", the lyrics of which insist "and this bird you cannot change."

I encourage you to conduct some spring call counts in early May from different vantage points around your property. IF you hear an average of 3 or more roosters calling, the breeding capital is there.

Don't give up the ghost my friend, Bob needs allies now more than ever. Keep the faith until at least this spring when we see how many birds are left on the landscape.