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More on bobwhite management
- To: Carolina birds <carolinabirds@acpub.duke.edu>
- Subject: More on bobwhite management
- From: Clyde Sorenson <clyde_sorenson@ncsu.edu>
- Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 17:22:32 -0400
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
- User-agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X; en-US; rv:0.9.4.1) Gecko/20020315 Netscape6/6.2.2
To add to Joshua's comments:
Bobwhites are really birds of the edge. They do like grassy "hairy"
fields, but it can't be just any ol' kind of grass, and it can't be too
much field. The do best in blocks of habitat that have a healthy
representation of native, warm-season bunch grasses, abundant leguminous
forbs, and escape cover in the form of thickets. Ideal quail habitat
allows for free movement on the ground with a dense protective canopy
immediately overhead. Burning (maybe more frequently than the 4-5 years
Josh recommended) is a very effective way to manipulate habitat to a
quail's liking, although in some areas seed reservoirs for fire adapted,
quail friendly plants may be in short supply. (And if you're going to be
burning regularly anyhow, how 'bout planting some longleaf pines....)
The NC Wildlife Resource Commission's CURE program seeks to increase
quail (and other early successional wildlife species) populations on
agricultural lands in the state through appropriate habitat
manipulations on large contiguous blocks of agricultural land. As it
currently stands, candidate areas must have 5,000 acres to qualify. The
modifications being used in these areas include field buffers strips,
reintroducing regular controlled burning of woodlots, conservation
tillage practices, and other practices. This is the most ambitious quail
management program in the state's history; let us all hope it succeeds.
By the way, quail are still abundant in some parts of the state; they
are just not terribly accessible. In a large patch of the inner coastal
plain (Edecombe, Wilson, Greene, and Pitt Counties), it is not hard to
find 6-10 covies in a day with good (stress, good) bird dogs in a
relatively small area. However, most will be associated with very dense
(and, typically, extremely thorny!) escape cover in the form of 3-8
year-old regenerating clearcuts on the edges of rather barren (of cover)
agricultural fields. They are there, but very difficult to approach and see!
In any case, a bit of well managed grassland/savannah is good for the
soul, so go on and do it!
Take care,
Clyde Sorenson
Clayton and Raleigh, NC