Beef, Brush, and Bobwhites: Quail Management in Cattle Country

Chapter 2. General Ecology

General ecology IMAGINE THAT YOU ARE 6 inches tall, weigh 6 ounces, and would rather walk than fly. Your view of the world would change. A knee-high shrub would become a small tree, a dense stand of bluestem would become an impassable jungle, and a 1-mile jog would telescope into a half marathon. You are beginning to see the world through the eyes of a bobwhite. These are delicate, typically sedentary birds that require a variety of habitats. They are largely concerned with living space from ground level to a height of about 3 feet on areas usually no larger than 20–30 acres. Managers, therefore, must create crazy-quilt patterns of cover on small areas. “Patches” in the quilt must fulfill all the needs of bobwhites. These include whistling posts, nesting cover, brood cover, feeding cover, resting coverts, and roosting cover. In this chapter we discuss the food, water, and cover needs of bobwhites on a seasonal and annual basis. Breeding-season Cover During spring, when the days have lengthened and the winds have lost their chill, male bobwhites select whistling perches from which to advertise for mates. They bob-white from trees with sparse foliage, snags, fence posts, barbed-wire strands, or other objects 6–14 feet tall. Suitable whistling perches usually are plentiful on Texas rangeland. A second patch in the spring crazy quilt is nesting cover. Grasses, particularly those that live for several years, supply first-rate nest sites. The native bluestems (Andropogon and Schizachyrium spp.) and perennial threeawns (Aristida spp.) are good examples. Hens nesting early need residual cover. This is dormant, standing vegetation, preferably grasses that grew during the preceding growing season. During drier years, such residual cover is important throughout the nesting season, which generally encompasses May–August. During wet springs and summers, current growth can fulfill nesting-cover needs. Although perennial bunchgrasses are the typical nesting cover, hens commonly nest in other plants, such as pricklypear (Opuntia spp.), tasajillo (O. leptocaulis), yucca (Yucca spp.), and sandsage (Artemisia filifolia). Chapter 2 Figure 2.2. Perennial bunchgrasses are the most common nesting substrate used by bobwhites. Little bluestem provides suitable nesting cover across Texas, including the (a) Rio Grande Plains and (b) Rolling Plains. In both photographs, note the good interspersion of low, medium, and tall herbaceous cover. (Photographs by Fidel Hernández) (b) General Ecology 17 The late Val W. Lehmann (1913–1987), biologist for the King Ranch, described a suitable nesting clump as being at least 8 inches tall and 12 inches in diameter, or about the size of a basketball. Our research indicates that there should be more than 300 nesting clumps/acre. If you walk back and forth across a pasture without stepping on a suitable nesting clump every eighth to tenth step, then you need to increase the availability of nesting cover. Too little nesting cover may make it easier for predators to find and destroy clutches. Until now, you have viewed the world through the eyes of an adult bobwhite. You also need to consider what a 1-inch, 1-ounce chick sees. Chicks need freedom of movement at ground level, overhead concealment , and a diverse assortment of green plants or plant parts within pecking height. Ideal brood cover has single-stemmed forbs with bushy canopies. If you are familiar with broomweed (Amphyachyris dracunculoides), sumpweed (Iva spp.), ragweed (Ambrosia spp.), or croton (Croton spp.), you can picture the proper structure. The low-growing greens harbor the insects, spiders , and other invertebrates that supply essential nutrients to young bobwhites. Brood cover must be near suitable midday resting coverts. year-round Cover Resting coverts, or headquarters areas, provide a safe, comfortable resting site between morning and evening feeding periods. Bobwhites may rest in the shade of taller grasses and forbs, but they prefer woody plants. Woody plants provide resting cover all year, whereas grasses and forbs break down during winter. A quality resting covert has a dense, thorny brush canopy a foot or more above the ground. The canopy should be at least as big around as the rear tire on a tractor. Ideally, the ground will be bare or sparsely vegetated under the canopy, and the herbs outside the canopy will be low enough so that a covey can see in all directions. Bobwhites use different types of resting coverts during cool and warm seasons . In fall and winter, almost any clump of brush is...