Whistling Quail Question

L

Lointer man

Active member
I enjoy listening to all the quail around my house in the evenings and early mornings, I also enjoy chasing them around in the fall and winter with my pointer, question is how do I ensure these birds stick around and any tips on predator control around the house. I know this is a VERY broad question but any and all advice is welcome!

Lointer man
 
You live in the country or urban area??
Feral cats need to go in either situation, and embrace why they are already there… your property must already provide something they really like. Quail live and die in a small home range if the land provides all needs.
 
Yeah, that question is impossible to answer with this little information. You definitely have habitat enough to hold quail, but it is hard to tell if you could improve the habitat to support more. Predator control may help, but it is rarely a cure for anything. If you concentrate on raccoon, skunk, and opossum, you will help protect nests. Keeping grassland habitat in a lower plant successional stage with a significant forb component will ensure space. Dealing with raptor perches within your nesting habitat can also benefit.
 
What prairie drifter said. If you are near travel ways to grain fields food sources are not as important as you would think. Nesting, loafing, escape cover.
 
Lointer, did we do you any good? A few pics of your habitat could lead us to some more precise recommendations. Knowing where you are located might help as well!
 
Prairie drifter, thanks for the response, yes I you did, I know it was a very broad question and appreciate the feedback, I am located in the very far southeast corner of kansas.
 
To generalize based on where you are, the big problems for quail in the area are fescue and woodland expansion and maturity. In general, you can help with your quail numbers by knocking out the fescue, managing for NWSG, and opening up your woodlands to more of a Savannah type density where quail can still thrive.
 
Like stated above get rid of any loose cats you see. If you're like our area fescue is taking over. If that's the case you'll need to work at getting rid of it too.
 
I have a neighbor (who is quickly becoming my favorite) working on a prairie restoration project and they've been burning off the fescue in late August last couple years and it's really starting to show results. The native is really coming back and it seems to have the fescue on the run which is really hard to do around here.
 
Cats and hawks are the biggest threats. I watched a single hawk sit in a tree for over a week and pick off quail one by one until they were all gone.
 
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