Download Nesting Cover - Leon River WPP

Northern Bobwhite Quail
Trend: Decline in grassland bird species
Lark Bunting
Grasshopper Sparrow
Meadowlark
Dickcissel
Henslow’s Sparrow
Loggerhead Shrike
Quail are Valuable Birds
• The average QU hunter spends:
• $10,354 per year on quail hunting
• Majority spent in destination county
• Lodging, fuel, food, supplies and leases
Body Size & Weight
• Body length Approx. 9-10”
• Wing span Approx. 14-16”
• Weight Approx. 5-7 ounces
Reproduction
• Clutch size varies from 12-15 eggs
• One egg laid per day
• Incubation lasts approximately 23 days
• All eggs hatch within a couple of hours
Longevity & Survival
• Records of living > 10 yrs in captivity
• Average life expectancy in the wild is < 1yr
• Annual mortality can range from 70-95%
• Greater than 60% mortality can occur in
chicks less than 20 days old
Predation and Mortality Factors
• Direct factors
– Habitat fragmentation, nativeintroduced pastures,
poor grazing management, ag cultivation, and
predation (fire ants, coyotes, avian, other mammals)
• Indirect factors
– Temperature and precipitation
• Weather
– Drought, hurricanes, flooding, etc..
• Disease
– Eye worms, virus, bacteria, etc..
• Human harvest (additive)
Home Range Size
• Varies from 10-80 acres
• Core area ~ 20 acres
• Most quail live a 1/2 mile or less from
where they were hatched
• Densities
•1 bird/acre in good years
•1 bird/7-10 acres during poor years
Key Components for Quail
Management
Food Plots and
Supplemental Feeding
Arrangement
and
quality
Watering Devices
and
Spacing
Brush Management
Quail “Cover Types”
Screening cover
Nesting cover
Escape cover
Loafing cover
Travel cover
Roosting cover
Ground Layer: bird’s point of view
Good -- mixture of low & tall
plants; good screening & travel
cover + bare ground.
Bad -- heavy litter; poor travel
and feeding cover -- very little
bare ground.
Ugly -- poor overhead screening
cover -- very little bare ground.
From Guthery 1986: Beef, Brush & Bobwhites.
Nesting Cover – “Bunchgrasses”
Buffelgrass
Little bluestem
Red grama
Pinhole bluestem
Nesting Cover – “Prickly Pear”
Nesting Cover
Recommendations
• Target = ~ 400 suitable
nest clumps/acre
– Suitable nesting sites
• bunch grasses; size
of a basketball
• prickly pear; size of
a hula hoop
Poor Nesting Cover
Fair Nesting Cover
Good Nesting Cover
Loafing Cover
Open at the base
Closed canopy
Lotebush
Wild Plum
Little Leaf Sumac
Wild Grape
Loafing Cover Examples
• Fence rows
• Windbreaks
• Corners
Escape Cover:
Thinking from a predator’s point of view
Managing
Loafing and Escape Cover
• Strive for good distribution
– A soft ball’s throw to nearest cover
• 5% - 25% brushy cover
5%
15%
25%
Managing
Loafing and Escape Cover
Prescribed Burning
Half-cutting Mesquite
• Chose mesquite trees
with 6 – 10 stems
• Each about 1.5 inches in
diameter
• Pull the limbs downward
and cut ~ halfway
through
• Wagon wheel appearance
• Treat 5 – 10 mesquites in
an area the size of a
tennis court
• Move ~ 200 yds away
and repeat the process
Brush Shelters
• Useful in areas with less than 5% brush
• Place in pairs or triplets
• Consider linking loafing cover and foraging
areas
• Sets should be placed
~75 yds apart
• Maintenance of
shelters should be done
~ 2 each year
• Ecological trap??
Key Components for Quail
Management
Food Plots and
Supplemental Feeding
Arrangement
and
quality
Watering Devices
and
Spacing
Brush Management
Food
Quail utilize seeds from over
250 plants
For plant and seed identification
see TEXNAT web-site
Cultivated Food Plots
Millets
Sesame
Partridge Pea
Sorghum
Bundleflower
Strive for good distribution
“Natural” Food Plots – Fallow Strips
Drag an 8 foot wide disc for a mile and you’ve only disturbed an acre
8’ x 5,280’ is approx 42,240 square feet…..
Or approximately 1 acre
Disk
Shredder
Quail Feeders
Feeder Considerations
• Weak links may negate benefits from feeders
• Determine if food in a limiting factor
Feeder Considerations
• Aflatoxin a bi-product of the fungus Aspergillus
• Carcinogen, liver damage, reduced vigor and
reproductive output
• 50 ppb allowed in wildlife feed
• 20 ppb may be more appropriate
Feeder Recommendations
• Feeders should be place at ~ 1/50 acres
• Feed should be kept as dry as possible
• Feeders should be elevated 2-4 inches above the ground
• Feeder holes ~ the size of 00 buckshot will work
Key Components for Quail
Management
Food Plots and
Supplemental Feeding
Arrangement
and
quality
Watering Devices
and
Spacing
Brush Management
Water for Quail
TPW
TPW
TPW
Water Recommendations
• Worth your efforts in areas with less than 25
inches of rainfall/year
• Place no more than 1 water site/100 acres
• Make water available at ground level
• Shallow depth
• Escape cover should be close
Who is the Benefactor?
Usable Space
• Diversity is essential
What’s good for quail is good for
many other species
• Deer
• Black-capped vireo
• Cattle
– Grazing can be a compatible practice!
• Other grassland bird species…..
Number of Nests Found in Each Site Type
There were
37.5% more
nests discovered
in the restored
sites than the
exotic sites
14
Number of Nests
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Restored Sites
Exotic Sites
Dickcissel Nest Height
60
50
Nest Height (cm)
6
40
30
13
20
10
0
Restored Sites
Exotic Sites
Nest height of
Dickcissels was
56% greater in
restored than in
exotic sites
Dickcissel Nest Substrate Height
Nest Susbtrate Height (cm)
200
Average nest
substrate height of
Dickcissels in
restored sites was
71% greater when
compared to exotic
sites
150
100
50
2
0
Restored Sites
Exotic Sites
Web Resources
• http://wildlife.tamu.edu/quail/northernbobwhites/
Extension Publication