Wildlife Management: Northern Bobwhite Quail

With the decrease in northern bobwhite quail populations in Mississippi, restoring northern bobwhite habitat has become increasingly important. Management techniques that improve or increase bobwhite quail habitat can be implemented to complement existing operations on private lands, such as agricultural production and timber management. The publications listed below cover the ecology, management, and habitat requirements for bobwhite quail.

These resources have been compiled from various resources and agencies and are provided here for educational purposes only. Please if you find information that needs to be updated, broken links, or if you have an additional resource you feel is pertinent.

• Pine Forestland Habitat Management for Wildlife
  Delta Wildlife, MSU-FWRC, MDWFP, MS Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Mississippi Forestry Commission, USDA-NRCS, USDA FSA. Delta Wildlife, MSU-FWRC, MDWFP, MS Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Mississippi Forestry Commission, USDA-NRCS, USDA FSA. Pine forests can be managed to provide wildlife habitat using a variety of techniques, some of which can improve timber stand quality. Established stands can be managed with thinning, prescribed fire or disking, and even herbicide control of hardwoods which can provide food and cover for quail and grassland species, deer, rabbits, turkey and other wildlife. Regenerating stands can be managed to provide weeds, legumes, and grasses that benefit quail and other early successional wildlife species. Even former agricultural fields can be managed for grassland habitat in conjunction with pine production to include wildlife habitat. The methods for management in these different types of pine stands are discussed in this booklet, providing a detailed overview as well as information on landowner assistance program such as the Conservation Reserve Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, and Conservation Security Program.
  
• Supplemental Food and Cover Plantings for Bobwhite Quail in Mississippi
  Mississippi State University Extension Service. A comprehensive management plan for the northern bobwhite, commonly known as the bobwhite quail, is important. If food is limiting the quail population in a location, one component of this plan may be to include supplemental food and cover plantings. These plantings can provide quality, abundant food to quail and may improve cover or nesting habitat as well. The types of plantings that can benefit quail are described in this publication as well as the management techniques for supplemental food and cover plantings and how to manage deer plantings for quail benefit.
• Strip Disking and Other Valuable Bobwhite Quail Management Techniques
  Mississippi State University Extension Service. Bobwhite quail heavily utilize early successional plant communities that include weeds, grasses, and shrubs. These communities develop after a disturbance of the soil which can include fire, mechanical disturbance, or other types of disturbance. In order to maintain these early successional plants on a property, a management plan that includes soil disturbance is necessary. This publication discusses the habitat needs of the northern bobwhite, how to utilize strip disking to maintain early successional habitat, and provides some information on the Conservation Reserve Program.
  
• Ecology and Management of the Northern Bobwhite
  Mississippi State University Extension Service. Northern bobwhite, or bobwhite quail, populations have declined in the southeast over the past several decades. Changes in land use practices have impacted the habitat of the bobwhite, resulting in a population decline. This full-color publication covers the life history and ecology of the northern bobwhite including courtship and nesting, brood rearing, covey structure, and habitat management for bobwhite quail in open lands, forested land, and how to utilize supplemental food plots. This publication also offers some information on the conservation programs for private landowners that can provide financial assistance for habitat management activities, including the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and Conservation Security Program (CSP) of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Finally, readers will find information on population monitoring and harvesting considerations.
• Wildlife Food Planting Guide for the Southeast
  Mississippi State University Extension Service. "This guide covers several wildlife habitat and foodplanting management techniques. The techniques provide information to increase natural food production, supplement the diets of game species, improve recreation, and to manage populations to meet user objectives. This guide is based on proven wildlife management techniques and ongoing wildlife research and is written to provide information that will help meet recreational and management objectives."
  
• Conservation Buffers
  By Wes and Leslie Burger, Wildlife Trends. Vol. 5 Issue 2, March/April 2005. Private landowners can improve wildlife habitat and provide other environmental benefits through practices such as conservation buffers that are easily integrated with production agriculture. Field borders may also benefit the farmer economically by taking low-yielding field margins and enrolling them in cost-share programs. This article discusses the many types of conservation buffers and the benefits that each type can provide. In addition, it provides information on the conservation programs that can provide assistance with the installation of field borders.
• Conservation Buffers: Wildlife Benefits in Southeastern Agricultural Systems
  Mississippi State University Forest and Wildlife Research Center. Conservation buffers include filter strips, riparian buffers, grass waterways, and field borders. These practices used in conjunction with land management for timber and agriculture can enhance wildlife habitat, provide erosion control, and reduce herbicide runoff. This publication discusses the different types of conservation buffers, the environmental benefits, and the economic benefit to farmers.
• Light Disking to Enhance Early Successional Wildlife Habitat in Grasslands and Old Fields: Wildlife Benefits and Erosion Potential
  USDA National Resources Conservation Service. Disking can enhance early successional wildlife habitat which includes annual plants such as the beggar plant, panic grasses, partridge pea and more. Although lasting only one to two growing seasons, these plants produce a large quantity of seeds, which provide food for bobwhite quail and other animal species. This publication provides information on how to disk, when to disk, the recommended intensity of disking, and soil erosion issues.
• Conservation Reserve Program Mid-Contract Management: Practices for Wildlife Habitat Improvement in Mississippi
  Mississippi State University and cooperators. Those enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program can participate in mid-contract management activities to improve wildlife habitat that are cost-shared. In grasslands, these practices include prescribed fire, light strip-disking, interseeding legumes in introduced grass stands, and herbicidal control of invasive vegetation. In forests, these practices include prescribed fire or light disking, herbicidal control of invasive woody vegetation in pine stands, and herbicidal control of invasive exotic vegetation in pine and hardwood stands. This publication covers management techniques that are cost-shared through CRP in detail.
• Grassland Bird Response to Agricultural Field Borders
  MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center. Research performed at Mississippi State University the use of agricultural field border management practices and the impact on grassland bird species. "Within intensive agricultural landscapes, field borders provide important idle herbaceous cover for grassland and early successional birds. Field borders may provide nesting, foraging, roosting, loafing, and escape cover. During winter, field borders may provide important habitat in southern agricultural systems where most short distance migrants overwinter. Field borders provide important habitat for many grassland birds due to their greater abundance of food (weed seeds) and more complex vegetation structure compared to non-bordered field margins."
  
• Restoring Bobwhite Quail Habitat
  MDWFP, MS Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Delta Wildlife Inc., MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center. This brochure talks about the conservation practice CP33: Habitat buffers for upland birds. Mississippi State University, along with number of cooperators, recently developed a DVD to promote the CP33 practice. The DVD was developed for agricultural producers, and explains both the economics and wildlife benefits of the CP33 practice. Anyone interested in obtaining a copy of the DVD or brochure should contact Wes Burger at Mississippi State University, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Mississippi State, MS 39762-9690; email wburger@cfr.msstate.edu. Single copies are free, and larger orders can be purchased for a nominal cost.
  
• Farm-level Habitat Management for Bobwhite Quail and Other Farm Wildlife
  MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center. Practices that agricultural producers can use to increase or improve wildlife habitat on their lands are discussed in this brochure. A brief discussion of managing vegetative buffers, grassland habitat, and woodlands for wildlife habitat is given as well as a mention of the cost-share programs available.
• A Landowner's Guide to Warm Season Grasses in the Mid-South
  University of Tennessee. Native warm season grasses can be utilized to provide wildlife habitat and forage for domestic animals. Common native warm season grasses include big bluestem, little bluestem, broomsedge bluestem, Indiangrass, switchgrass, sideoats grama, and eastern gamagrass. Identification, management, and uses for each grass is provided in this publication.
  
• Using Herbicides and Fire to Manage Pine Forests for Northern Bobwhites (2006)
  Louisiana State University AgCenter Research and Extension. LSU AgCenter researchers examined the effects of prescribed fire used in conjunction with herbicides and prescribed fire only on creating or improving bobwhite quail habitat in pine stands. As a result of this research, management recommendations for creating and maintaining northern bobwhite habitat in pine stands using a combination of prescribed fire and herbicides are outlined in this article.
• Mississippi's Conservation Reserve Program CP33 - Habitat Buffers for Upland Birds: Mississippi Bird Monitoring and Evaluation Plan 2006 Annual Report
  Mississippi State University, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, USDA Farm Service Agency, Forest and Wildlife Research Center. CP33 field borders or habitat buffers are designed to benefit quail and other grassland bird populations. A research program was initiated in 2006 to study the effects of CP33 native grass habitat buffers on bird populations in Mississippi. The results of this study are presented in this report.
• Native Warm-Season Grass Restoration in Mississippi
  Mississippi State University. This publication defines native warm season grasses, lists examples of the types of warm season grasses and provides labeled drawings of the types. It describes the benefits of restoring native grasses and how to do so. Information is provided on keeping different nonnative grass species under control. Information is also given on choosing and planting grass species in a way that restores ecosystems and is advantageous to wildlife or creates livestock forage. Use of periodic disturbances is also covered along with contact information for organizations that assist with management of warm season grasses.
• Bobwhite Quail: Working with Wildlife
  Stewardship Forest, N.C. Cooperative Extension Service
• The Northern Bobwhite Quail
  (2001) Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources
• Missouri Bobwhite Quail Habitat Appraisal Guide: Assessing your farm’s potential for bobwhite
  by Bill White, Pat Graham, Robert A. Pierce II, University of Missouri Extension, 2008
• Bobwhite Quail in Texas: Habitat Needs & Management Suggestions
  by Alfred S. Jackson, Clyde Holt, Daniel W. Lay, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
• Rich Farm, Lots of Quail
  Aaron P. Jeffries, Missouri Department of Conservation
• Pasture Management for Bobwhite Quail
  by William M. Giuliano, James F. Selph, Emma V. Willcox, and Adam S. Willcox, University of Florida Extension