Survival of Quail
~ by Jim Eagleman
Field Notes
As I was driving through country with my window open on a recent spring day, I thought I heard a quail whistle its iconic“ bob … bob white” call. It made me think how little I’ d heard them lately, and brought back memories of a class project I worked on when I was a student.
We had an assignment to pick a bird or animal and define all the things a biologist needed to
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56 Our Brown County May / June 2023 know for proper management. The project included describing its importance to mankind, its economic value, and survival requirements.
I chose the chunky, bobwhite quail since I recalled them as a kid on the Pennsylvania farm. My grandpa would point to a brushy ravine and say it looked“ birdy.” I didn’ t really know what that meant. Over time, though, I could identify the places where quail lived. Whatever the quail needed was provided there. Still, it was a mystery to me. Was it food, protection from predators, water?
When I was old enough to possess a license, I hunted quail— on the lookout for similar places where the habitat was right. I remember bringing home several birds for my mom to cook for supper.
My professor used the term“ resilient” when lecturing about quail. They were common in that part of western Illinois.
My daily library search revealed many questions. Some kind of historical perspective was in order. I needed to know if my specie was native to the area, or like the ring-necked pheasant and red fox, introduced years before. If native, how are they doing? If introduced, how long ago, and what was their status?
Had quail numbers remained consistent over time? What determined highs and lows? Was it severe storms, cold spells, drought, summer heat, flooding? I needed to look at weather trends.
Where are quail normally found? If a farmland specie, is its habitat intermixed with woodlands, wetlands, or mature forest? How far and wide on the land is it found? Had this changed over time as development spread, impacting habitats?