Quail Fact Friday!💡
Thinking about stocking pen-raised bobwhite quail on your property? You might want to think again. As shown by numerous studies over the past 25 years, stocking of pen-raised birds is not an efficient means to increase wild bird populations. Developing and enhancing habitat, on the other hand, has proven to help increase quail numbers.
On average, only 60% of pen-raised quail will survive the initial week of release. After one month, roughly 25% will remain. Winter survival has been documented as high as 10% but seldom exceeds 5%. There often will be a few that make it, but studies have shown they are unable to maintain a population. This is why local stocking programs continue year after year.
On top of that, you might be doing more harm than good for wild birds by promoting genetic dilution. Even with minimal survival, the release of pen-raised birds over many years may be diminishing the “wildness” of the wild stock. Another concern is that by releasing hundreds of birds in a given area, predators may start keying on quail. This may result in wild birds incurring higher predation. Finally, there is the potential of disease transmission from released birds to the wild flock.
During the past 50 years there has been a colossal amount of money spent on supplemental stocking programs by state and local governments, sportsmen’s groups, and private individuals. If these dollars would have been invested in habitat restoration, hundreds of species of wildlife in addition to quail would have been benefited.
Here’s the bottom line: When habitat conditions improve, wild quail populations will increase in response to that habitat.
#quailforever #quail #bobwhitequail #quailfactfriday
