re: New to TD, was wondering what happenned to all the quail in S Louisiana?

Is there any way to transplant wild birds to a property? I think my habitat is ok, but have no quail.

I think Bermudagrass is ok for them. It’s the Bahia that is bad. At least what I’ve heard

quote:

---

I think Bermudagrass is ok for them. It’s the Bahia that is bad. At least what I’ve heard

---

It might not be as bad as bahia, but most research I've seen still points to getting rid of it if you are managing for quail. Bermudagrass is pretty aggressive, and in a grazed system, proper grazing management can actually result in bermudagrass expanding and outcompeting other species.

Quail need bunchgrasses for nesting cover, and the open ground you get in between allows chicks to move around better. Forbs and legumes coupled with bunchgrasses creates a diverse food supply for quail as well.

In today's agricultural landscape, it takes a farmer with a lot of acreage and an ecological conscience to balance the need to turn a profit and the desire to manage for wildlife where the two must coexist. It's easy in rice--just flood up after the crop os harvested, and you've got a waterfowl haven (when they get past that flooded corn...lol). I've heard of some guys in north Louisiana incorporating pollinators and wildlife friendly plantings into agricultural operations, but those are large operations...thousands of acres of cropland or hundreds of acres of pasture. It's not nearly as feasible for a guy who only has a couple hundred acres of cropland, or 50 or 60 acres of pastureland.

I would like to see some programs like Iowa puts on...Farm to Prairie is a cool one. Convert those headlands to prairie in the prairie country. There are cost assistance programs that pay pretty good for that kind of project.

Game depts will move turkeys, deer, etc around. Is that done with quail? I know you can get pen raised, but not sure they’d survive.

quote:

---

Game depts will move turkeys, deer, etc around. Is that done with quail? I know you can get pen raised, but not sure they’d survive

---

It has been done, but with limited success. Habitat is key as long as there are some seed birds around, they will respond to good habitat.

Short stopping quail,

That's some funny shite

Jumped a covey of about 12-15 yesterday. Bunches of young quail and a couple big birds

Hear them almost every day on the deer stand

(no message)

the landscape has changed tremendously since the 80s and before when quail were common

people actually burned their properties and most the landscape wasn't slash pine plantations like it is now

clearcuts can be great habitat but timber companies have gone to less burning and now spray herbicides to nuke everything that isn't a pine tree which on turn kills all the food for quail (and deer and turkeys also)

another thing is that people used to have grown up fences which provided perfect habitat for quail now people spray their fences for aesthetics

fire ants, pigs, coyotes, avian predators, bobcats, disease, and all else fall way below lack of habitat which is the number one reason

This is simple. In my area it’s the increase of cane farming. When I was coming up they had a lot of quail. You used to have a lot of millot fields and corn. In my area I’ve now seen 1 quail in the last 20 years.