More information about declining bobwhite quail numbers

From a Texas report:

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Although culprits such as roadrunners, raccoons, cattle egrets, skunks,
hawks, weather, and especially fire ants are often blamed for the demise of
quail, the fundamental reason for declining quail numbers is loss of
habitat. While predation can certainly influence quail populations, impacts of predation increase as areas of habitat get smaller and are separated by longer distances. Local populations of quail on these islands of habitat are too few in number and too far from other quail to withstand catastrophic events such as floods, snow and ice, drought, etc. Therefore, isolated populations of quail have a greater possibility of becoming locally extinct.

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Don't know enough to answer.

Related information about pen raised birds:

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Pen-raised quail lack behavioral characteristics of wild birds. This should not be surprising as pen-raised birds are domesticated stock, which have been selected over time to be docile enough to survive in pens
and raised in a most unnatural way. Many of these domesticated birds will not nest, and some that do will not incubate their clutch. It has also been noted for a pen-raised female to incubate her clutch and, upon hatching, simply walk off and leave the brood. Without the hen, chicks die quickly, either from exposure, starvation, or predation. In short, pen-raised quail have never been found to be able to sustain a population

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nevermind none of you will give educate answer anyway

Why did you edit your post twice? The initial one was insightful. Now you just look like a dumbass with the edit.

Busted a covey of about 20 in Concordia in November, I was shocked.

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young clear cuts

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Only place I've ever seen quail in Kisatchie

Oh goodie, and after you educate me I take you to super secret woodcock spot and teach you something about those birds

Sounds good...

quote:

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Although culprits such as roadrunners, raccoons, cattle egrets, skunks,
hawks, weather, and especially fire ants are often blamed for the demise of
quail, the fundamental reason for declining quail numbers is loss of
habitat.

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I just do not believe this. Before the mid 80s all predators were trapped very hard. Lots of guys made a living doing it. I was in my mid 20s before I saw a live bobcat. Now we are over ran with predators, it's nothing to see a family of coons come to your feeder or see several bobcat, fox and coyotes while hunting. Then throw in the feral cats, it's easy to see that all these predators have got to take a heavy toll on birds
like quail.

One other thing that may affect them too is none of the timber companies burn anymore they spray and kill every stitch of vegetation but a pine tree in these cut overs.

quote:

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I just do not believe this. Before the mid 80s all predators were trapped very hard. Lots of guys made a living doing it. I was in my mid 20s before I saw a live bobcat. Now we are over ran with predators, it's nothing to see a family of coons come to your feeder or see several bobcat, fox and coyotes while hunting. Then throw in the feral cats, it's easy to see that all these predators have got to take a heavy toll on birds
like quail.

One other thing that may affect them too is none of the timber companies burn anymore they spray and kill every stitch of vegetation but a pine tree in these cut overs

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While I completly agree with you on predator expansion, I dont agree with you on the burning thing

You can look at most any WMA in western LA and see thousand upon thousand acre of pine land not sprayed like the industrial forest with large parcel that is burned:
1. Fort Polk
2. Clear Creek
3. Peason Ridge
4. Large parts of Kisatchie

And all of them recieve relative zero hunting pressure and have almost no quail for practical purpose.you can drive through any of them and see tons of burned acreage. If there was still seed population why wouldnt thehy be crawling like roaches around these places?