The TeamQuail E-covey Newsletter is an ever-so-often update of quail happenings in west Texas. Feel free to forward to your quail-addict friends, or reply with their e-mail address and I'll add them to the e-covey. Comments, questions, or ideas for future topics? Please e-mail me at d-rollins@tamu.edu. See the TeamQuail website http://teamquail.tamu.edu for past issues of the E-covey and additional information about quail
management.
TeamQuail Research and Demonstration Ranch Incubating - While the Rolling Plains is renowned for its history of quail hunting (check TPW’s roadside counts and you’ll see that the Rolling Plains has a higher long-term mean for bobwhite abundance than the much-hallowed South Texas), this area suckles the uropygial gland when it comes to quail research. But, thanks to an anonymous donor, west Texas may not have to look as far for quail research efforts. The 4,700-acre W. T. Martin Ranch, located west of Roby (Fisher County) was recently purchased with the idea of making the property a research and demonstration facility. Plans are underway to create a nonprofit foundation that will oversee management of the ranch. It’s pretty quail friendly already - 3 days of scouting there yielded 16, 10, and 22 coveys of quail flushed - pretty impressive given this particular year. The site has some blue quail also which I consider a real bonus. We’ll be holding an open house of the facility later this spring, so stay tuned.
Hot Off the Press! -- It's been 5 years in the making, but it's finally here! The new book Texas Quails: Ecology and Management is a real jewel, and a must for your quail management library. It features 25 chapters and almost 500 pages which chronicle all aspects of quail management in Texas. All 4 species of Texas' quail are addressed. Many thanks to Lenny Brennan of the Caesar Kleberg wildlife Research Institute for editing this encyclopedia, all the various authors, and to Shannon Davies at Texas A&M University Press. The book lists for $40 at TAMU Press, but Amazon.com has it listed for $26.40. Get yours today.
Blues Too! -- A new publication "Scaled Quail in Texas: Biology and Management", published by Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, highlights current state of the art/science of blue quail management. Copies are available from Ruben Cantu (ruben.cantu@tpwd.state.tx.us) or online at the TeamQuail website. I’m also assembling an e-mail list for prospective "Blues Brothers", so if you wish to be included, send an e-mail to me (d-rollins@tamu.edu).
I Remember the Red River Valley . . . and how the quail hunting used to be. If you missed the Red River Quail Symposium last October, you can order copies of the symposium’s proceedings (for $19 + $4 S&H) or view them online at the TeamQuail website. The RRQS was attended by some 145 participants from 7 states who were treated to some fine fellowship over quail.
Ice Storms and Quail -- The past 4 days have seen a significant ice storm event, and accompanying low temperatures, over much of Texas, and especially along the I-20 corridor. Several have called in to ask if such weather is the death knell to an already struggling quail population. Such weather events, especially later in the winter (e.g. late-Feb) are especially hard on quail, and can cause significant mortality. Several have asked my opinion of supplemental feeding in such conditions, so here 'tis: if you want to feed, and can afford to feed, then feed. It is at worst a neutral practice, and has been shown to increase overwinter survival in western OK during harsh winters. But, feeding results have varied from positive, to neutral, to negative impacts; currently it is viewed mostly as a neutral practice. F. Guthery analyzed several data sets and concluded that average winter survival on control areas (0.30±0.06 SE) was not significantly different than that on fed areas (0.39±0.06 SE). Feeding is inherently inefficient (feeder visitations by quail have comprised only 1 to 10% of visitors), and hence expensive. Some purported liabilities of feeding (e.g., aflatoxin-exposure, increased vulnerability to predators near feeders) have not proven to be issues in recent studies. If you decide to feed, milo, wheat, or corn are all good energy sources.
Trans-Texas Quail Count Scheduled for May 5 -- The 2nd annual (?) Trans-Texas Quail Count is coming to a site near you. The goal of this event is to foster better appreciation of quail and their dilemmas. Bobwhite Brigade cadets, Texas Quail Index cooperators, QuailMasters, Master Naturalists, QU, QF, TOWMA, Audubon, interested biologists, quail hunters, and other trained volunteers will be spending a couple of hours in May counting bobwhite whistles at five stops (e.g., mile markers) in a respective county. I see this as an excellent opportunity to demonstrate what quail appreciation is all about. The exercise would be especially important for the eastern 2 of Texas where bobwhite abundance may be disjunct, and at or below any critical mass for hunting, and thus "politically" not very important. For those of you who've worked with "deer co-ops", consider the whistle count as a "spotlight" count for quail, i.e., the producers get their "hands on" the data in real time. Here's even a more beautiful "point": what if landowners in a particular county (e.g., Washington) did a five mile count, and found that quail were heard whistling at the only site that featured native range (as opposed to coastal bermudagrass) that could be a powerful object lesson. Such was the inception for 4 H some 90 years ago. My goal for 2007 is to get 100 counties involved. Out of pocket costs are minimal. If you’re interested in coordinating a count in your area, e-mail me.
QuailMasters Set for Encore Class -- Another QuailMasters session will fledge later this year. QM is a series of 4, intensive 3-day workshops on quail biology and management. The class' theme is "Understanding the Quail Equation." Participants in the '05 QM course included land managers, hunters, grad students, biologists, and county Extension agents. Three hours of graduate credit are available through TAMU for those interested. Dates for the first workshop are April 29-May 2. QuailMasters is a joint venture of Texas Cooperative Extension and Texas Wildlife Association. See the TeamQuail website (http://teamquail.tamu.edu) for additional details.
Do You ‘Appreciate’ Quail? -- If so, you’ll want to attend a Quail Appreciation Day near you; if not, you need to attend one. QUADs are 6-hour workshops on quail management; 48 such workshops have been conducted since 1998. QUADs for 2007 are scheduled for Collingsworth (April 5; I’m lobbying to host it in the community of Quail, Tx (just northwest of Wellington), Concho (April 19), and Tom Green (May 3) counties.
And if You Really Want to Learn about Quail - Consider signing up as a Covey Leader for this summer’s Bobwhite Brigade camps . . . and it won’t cost you a dime (unless you count lost sleep!). Covey Leaders come from all walks of life, and knowledge of quail is not a prerequisite. You’ll leave exhausted, but exhilarated. Applications, and additional information, can be found at www.texasbrigades.org. And, if you’d like to help the Brigades effort, we are now soliciting donations to match a challenge grant from the Alkecht Foundation - they’ll match our donations 1:1 up to $60,000. Donations of any amounts are sought and are tax-deductible.
Yogi Quail Rule! -- For those of you brash enough to be shooting quail this year, odds are that your bag is dominated by "old" (adult) birds - I sometimes refer to such birds as "Yogi quail", i.e., they’re smarter than your average quail. Hence they run faster, fly further, flush wilder (or sit tighter) than a quail population that’s 70% or more juvenile birds. Juvenile birds in the bags I’ve inspected are indeed "prize eggs" this year. Most reports I’ve received have been over 80% old birds - the reciprocal is more usual. One sample of blues from near Midland was 96.1% old birds - that’s pretty incredible. If there’s any good news in these demographics, it’s that old hens accounted for 75% of the re-nesting effort during a recent study in Fisher County.
Filaree and Broomweed -- Moisture during December has prompted a decent stand of filaree (both Texas and California varieties) on most sites on which I’ve trod. Such is good news, as filaree (and other cool-season forbs) tend to correlate with good breeding conditions, and we desperately need a good year next year. I’ve seen blue quail at Ft. Stockton fat as town dogs, and sporting nothing but California filaree in the their crops. Whether we’ve received enough precipitation this past fall-winter to foster a broomweed crop remains to be seen. A "good" broomweed crop is the best herald for a good quail crop that I know of for the Rolling Plains.
Texas Wildlife Association Crows for Quail -- If this sounds self-serving, forgive me. The January issue of Texas Wildlife features several articles related to quail, including 1 by, and another about, yours truly. If you’re not a member of Texas Wildlife Association, consider signing up; see www.texas-wildlife.org for details. TWA is an effective lobbying force for all wildlife issues in Texas - and as more quail folks become members, quail importance will continue to rise.
Dale Rollins
Professor & Extension Wildlife Specialist
Texas Cooperative Extension
San Angelo
325-653-4576
325-658-4364 (fax)