The Bobwhite Quail is classified as follows:

Order – GALLIFORMES: Gallinaceous birds

Family – Odontophoridae: American quails

Genus – Colinus

Species – virginianus

The literal translation of Odontophoridae is: Odon or Odontos means tooth; phoras means bearing; and idea means pertaining to. All members of this family of New World quail have a serrated lower mandible. The generic name Colinus or colin(us) is derived from the Spanish word colin. Colin can be traced back to Nahuatl, an Aztecan language of central Mexico. In Nahuatl, colin means quail. The name virginianus refers to where this bird was originally named in Virginia.

THE BOBWHITE QUAIL, a bird of from five to seven, rarely nine ounces, is found in the forty contiguous states east of Montana, Idaho, Utah and Arizona, with the exception of North Dakota. During spring and summer, single unmated males, pairs and family groups are the typical social units. With the arrival of fall frosts and reduced summer vegetation, quail enter their fall shuffle. At this time they intermingle in large groups, mixing and reorganizing into coveys of from eight to twenty birds that shift to areas of heavier winter cover. The coveys remain fairly intact during the winter.

In the warming days of March and April covey bonds weaken and birds pair in preparation for nesting. The nesting season is from April through September, normally becoming widespread in May. The clutch, averaging 15 small white eggs, is laid in a bowl-shaped, grass-roofed nest. Preferred nesting cover is dead grass. Nests are seldom far from an opening or the edge of cover.

Clutch losses from predation and nest desertion (often caused by heavy rain or severe drought) run high. Nesting failures are common. Quail are prolific egg layers. If the clutch is repeatedly destroyed or hens are forced to leave the nest, many will often re-nest several times. Successful early-nesting hens may sometimes produce second broods.

Normal incubation takes 23 days; the chicks hatch ready to leave the nest. The hen commonly does the incubation, but the male may assist and, if the hen is lost, will often bring off the brood himself. Young quail are brooded and cared for by both parents till well grown. Chick mortality is high; often half or more of the brood is lost. Sexes look alike until the age of ten weeks, when they assume the distinguishing head and throat coloring of adult birds.

In normal weather the hatching peak is around June 15, with 65% to 75% of the annual crop produced during this month. A late spring or adverse weather during May and June may result in a July or (rarely) August hatching peak. This is usually reflected in reduced annual production, reduced chick survival and smaller fall populations.

Few quail live beyond 14 months, and many hens fail to survive long enough to reproduce. With over 80% of the annual population failing to carry over to the next year, an annual quail crop cannot be stockpiled. Good production and survival of young must occur annually if high quail numbers are to result each fall. This depends on a combination of favorable weather and favorable habitat.

Since the fall population depends so heavily on the summer's production and survival, weather conditions during the nesting and rearing season can cause high annual variations in fall quail numbers. Prolonged snow and low temperatures in spring may result in high adult mortality, lowered breeding potential and less production. Extreme drought or rainfall in the production season may cause high breeder and clutch losses and above-normal loss of young. Favorable weather permits high production and high populations. High quality habitat helps reduce the losses. Time is the main corrective factor. Complete recovery from short-term lows rarely requires more than two or three favorable nesting seasons.

Long-term population declines, on the other hand, are extremely serious. Two major factors are usually responsible: intensive land use, and natural plant succession.

Intensive land use progressively lowers the carrying capacity for quail. The trend is toward larger fields, heavier cropping, less waste grain, less quail food and less of the diversified plant associations which provide abundant "edge." Increased grassland development with heavier livestock grazing, elimination of wasteland border strips and woodland, increased spraying to control plants and insects--all have reached serious proportions. Many acres of the finest quail habitat have been and are being eliminated by these practices.

Natural plant succession occurs on land that has been recently cultivated (or the ground has been disturbed) and is resting or abandoned. The first plants to come in include many annuals whose seeds furnish much favored quail food. Annuals supply about 80% of the quail’s diet. This includes both native and agricultural crop plants. Through natural succession, perennial growth gradually replaces annuals in the progression to predominantly grassy or woody cover, neither of which furnishes the amount and variety of food quail need. Generally, after five to eight years following bare ground, the most favorable plant stages for optimum quail habitat are past, and the population declines.

These two factors--intensive land use, and plant succession past the favorable stages--together are chiefly responsible for long-term population declines. They result in destruction or deterioration of quail habitat, and can be corrected only by habitat restoration.

THE MAJOR GOAL of modern quail management is the offsetting of the adverse long-term trends by injecting into the farming economy (1) a desire for bobwhite quail, (2) an economic incentive to develop quail management as a worthwhile operation, and (3) the application of management that will maintain the birds on the land. For intensive management, the local wildlife specialist should be consulted for advice and assistance.

The first step in planning for quail is to examine the proposed management area to determine the limiting factors of quail food, cover, and land use activities that may be responsible in limiting quail numbers. A unit of 40 acres is handy to work with.

A check of the quail present and their use areas provides an immediate key to carrying capacity. A study of abandoned covey use areas often reveals what has happened to cause a bird decline, which may provide a key to corrective management.

Any long-term serious attempts to increase quail demand that a cover or sketch map of the area be prepared. Such a map should show the location of quail coveys, important present and planned food and cover features, waterholes, and progress of the development program. The time devoted to ground mapping and planning is well spent for it will show us what we have, what we should do, and will provide a permanent record of progress.

The kind and intensity of quail management practices will vary widely with the problems encountered and existing bird abundance. Where bird-acre ratios are below a bird per 12 acres, a few well placed cover plantings or food patches may increase the carrying capacity and rapidly boost the annual bird population upward.

If quail densities are very low (as a bird per 30, 40 or 50 acres) it may be practically impossible to increase their numbers. This is true today of many agricultural areas where it is too late for logical, economical quail management. Such are the conditions that we should avoid through bird management NOW on many threatened quail producing acres today.

On each forty-acre unit, we should increase and maintain an interspersion of plant types that give us maximum edge with adequate food and water distribution. Management steps are progressive:

• Carefully evaluate and protect the native cover (if sparse cover is a limiting factor). It is far easier to preserve what is there than to establish new plant growth. The solution here may simply be to fence out such other areas as draws, fence corners, thickets, low-producing waste areas, fencerows, and edge borders of light shrubs and herbaceous growth favored by quail. Additional growth often develops naturally. Especially in woodlands and along edges, groups or even single trees providing perennial quail foods (oaks and green-twig sassafras) should be protected.
• On coverless areas close to existing or potential food sources, plant native shrubs such as gray dogwood.
• Establish rye-barley-vetch cover patches, where desired. These will usually provide high return in a cover management program.
• Areas extensively overgrown with dense stands of mat forming plant growth and brush through plant succession are unattractive for quail. Open such sites by partially clearing and removing the rank growth while still maintaining edge. Removing undesirable tree species along wood borders and in the woodlots opens up ground and allows native annuals to develop. Disking and fertilizing such sites hastens the process. The removed materials should be piled and protected as brush piles, which provide excellent winter cover. Distribute such piles over the area.
• Plant growth may be removed through cutting, disking, bulldozing, plowing, light selective area burning (controlled, not wild fire) or a combination of such practices. Where quail management is being applied extensively over large acreages of sub marginal agriculture land, the methods of plant growth removal will vary; a cost analysis will determine which techniques to use.
• Lopping over occasional undesirable trees by cutting half through the trunk three to four feet high rapidly provides intermittent brushy areas along rather open edges. Treetop brush piles offer needed cover and immediate benefits in edges that otherwise may consist mainly of six-inch or larger stemmed trees which provide intermittent brushy areas along rather open edges. Treetop brush piles offer needed cover and immediate benefits in edges that otherwise may consist mainly of six-inch or larger stemmed trees which provide little in the way of desirable quail cover. Songbirds, by providing a variety of seeds dropped in such treetop cuttings, help the sites to develop additional plant growth rapidly. This creates excellent loafing and escape areas for the bobwhite (and rabbits).

A considerable variety of plants are available for quail cover development. Their use depends upon the degree of management practices to be applied.

A well-planned quail management program foresees the production of surplus birds, which should be harvested. Annual quail production normally far outstrips the capacity of the winter habitat to support the surplus birds and annual quail losses approach the 80-90% level. These are adequate reasons for encouraging harvest of at least 50% of the birds produced. To achieve such a harvest on high carrying capacity quail lands is often quite difficult. Special harvest procedures and efforts are often necessary for adequate harvest success.

Bobwhite Quail Management

Present low quail populations reflect a change in farming practices during the past twenty years. Earlier, quail were produced simply as a by-product of a "small field, small-grain agriculture". In order to maintain quail numbers even at a minimum nowadays, specific habitat practices must be carried out on private land.

A management plan directed at quail must include practices, which will produce a maximum amount of nutritious seeds, fruits and berries adjacent to good nesting and winter cover.

The first step in quail management on any tract of land is to make a specific plan for that particular acreage. A large-scale map showing all land use activities can be used to show existing habitat and to indicate the areas where specific practices are to be applied. A small sketch map is an alternative and will often serve the purpose.

A 40-acre unit is a good working base. It is small enough to work with and it is large enough to support a covey of quail if conditions are right. In very favorable circumstances, intensive management may provide an additional covey headquarters and eventually a higher number of birds.

HABITAT QUALITY is most commonly evaluated in terms of carrying capacity, which for quail is often expressed as the number of acres per quail in fall, when birds are most abundant. Extremely favorable habitat may carry densities of a quail per two to four acres. A bird per two to 12 acres provides favorable hunting; below that, birds are considered rather sparse. Quail management goals are to hold the density between the two to 12 acres per bird figure. This is done by meeting their cover, food and, to some extent, water needs.

During one season or another, bobwhites use every plant succession stage from recently disturbed ground to the mature oak-hickory forest. Early plant successional stages are the most important. Habitat quality will usually begin to decline about five to eight years following soil disturbance. The result is that dense woody growth replaces sun-loving food-producing annuals as well as the perennial grasses, which are used for nesting. Good interspersion of habitat types is essential due to the low mobility of quail.

Quail become most abundant where ample food sources are well distributed in a combination of cropland, woodland, grassland and waste or brush land cover. Such a diversification of plant cover types usually provides that magic condition of edge. The greater the interspersion of type combinations, the greater the amount of edge and bobwhite quail.

A secret of successful quail management is to maintain all life requirements in closely associated units, thereby holding birds near the vicinity of hatch. High quality edge helps to accomplish this. Edge between grasslands and croplands, and brush lands and croplands, receives the most quail use throughout the year. During adverse periods of snow and cold, the birds often seek the denser woodland type and brush pile cover.

The low mobility and limited flight range of the bobwhite, plus its preference for walking and scratching for food, indicate its great need for (1) closely related units of diversified plant cover and edge, plus (2) rather open ground for scratching and feeding.

One of the most obvious and sound quail management practices available is that of protecting what is there now. This especially applies to the maintenance of natural shrubby and woody cover of edges, draws and other "waste areas" which usually occur around a farm. In terms of quail management, such vegetative growth is not classed as waste. It becomes, however, an important part of managed units in the quail management plan.

Quail eat some green plant growth and insects in season, but rely principally upon fruits or seeds. Seeds of annual plants provide about 80% of the birds' diet; those of perennial plants (mainly in the tree group), about 20%. High seed production in the species favored by quail is a must if we are to achieve high quail numbers.

Native annual plants are found mainly in freshly or relatively recently disturbed soil where the ground is well exposed. Thus in quail food management we attempt to maintain open ground conducive to annual plant growth and high seed production by controlling the overabundance of dense perennial growth.

Fortunately, some of the major crops in agriculture are annual grains. Many of the finest quail foods today are waste grains found in corn, soybean and grain sorghum fields, and the annual Korean lespedeza pastures. Cultivation for farm grain production may also produce heavy stands of native annuals such as ragweed, croton and wild legumes which also rate high as quail food. Non-grazed woodlots often provide legume seeds relished by quail. While modern agriculture has the potential of producing annual plant seeds favorable for quail, present day intensified land use, livestock grazing and weed and insect spraying practices are leaving less and less cropland wastes and native foods available.

Two important perennial tree seeds consumed by quail are acorns and the seeds of the green-twig sassafras. Fruit of berry-producing shrubs also provide both food and desirable cover.

NATURAL VEGETATION: Cover can often be improved simply by fencing livestock out of the places where cover is needed. This allows natural plant growth to develop. With a little extra effort, however, some desirable plants can be planted or encouraged to grow.

When examining an area to be managed for quail, locate the ranges of known quail coveys. Habitat considerations should include the main types of vegetation and the kinds of cover present. Often, the sumac, briar, and trees present in a known covey range are also found in smaller amounts, outside the used range. Small fence corners, ditch banks, roadsides, or woods edges may have a few scattered stands of sassafras, wild plum, or tick trefoil. If the farmer agrees to leave these plants alone, they can be a start toward a new covey range. It is often possible to increase these plants through disking and protection. Light disking every two to three years will allow a variety of other native plants to develop. Amazing increases in quail food and cover usually occur in a short time if not grazed. There are usually several small areas on farms, which can be treated in this manner to quickly provide more improved quail cover units. The brushy-woody areas become important "base units" when planning for more bobwhite quail. A clean, barren farm is a dull, lifeless unit in terms of whistling birds and whirring coveys.

Every effort should be made to maintain scattered patches and travel lanes of dense, brushy, woody cover throughout each forty acres. Birds require such growth during prolonged snowy and low-temperature periods in winter. These also allow the birds to find security when predation threatens. Several such cover areas must be considered in sound quail management planning.

WOODLOT MANAGEMENT: Livestock should be excluded from woodlands to prevent the trampling and destruction of under story vegetation which result in regeneration plants as well as food and cover for wildlife. In woodlands or edges where elm, locust, hickories, maples, and similar trees are crowded, the cutting of occasional trees will permit growth of more valuable species such as ash, sassafras, sumac, plum and herbaceous plants.

Protect the low-branched cedar trees, these provide excellent wintering areas for quail during heavy, prolonged snowfall.

Woodland edges often contain poorly formed trees supporting climbing vines. When such trees are "hinged-felled", (but the vine is not cut) the vines interlace the living limbs and create a "living brush pile". Grass and weeds growing around the whole mass will then produce an excellent escape haven for bobwhites and other wildlife species.

ESCAPE COVER: The limbs from trimming, pruning, firewood cutting, and thinning of brush or timber should be piled where the brush pile will not interfere with farm work. Do not make a tight brush pile, instead build the pile in a crisscross and loose manner. These brush piles provide fine winter cover for birds. Planting vines of various kinds around brush piles, in fence corners, or in stands of low-growing shrubs will produce some of the most durable, dependable, and highly used winter quail cover. The honeysuckle-and-brush cover combination is of most value in northern counties where winter weather can be very unfavorable for quail.

While cover is often inadequate, the manager must bear in mind that too much cover can be as bad as too little! Extensive areas of solid cover will not permit growth of needed food-bearing plants. Even where quail require heavy cover for protection from winter weather and predation, a good pattern of cover, scattered throughout the farm, is generally sufficient. In areas with less severe winter weather, the need for dense cover is not as great. Normally, undisturbed herbaceous, grassy-woody growth is sufficient for the birds.

Important: The best cover management tool is to protect and improve what is growing naturally within the management unit. Care should be taken to not destroy valuable food and cover plants already present. The sketch map should note all existing cover and food areas.

NESTING COVER: The quail hen needs a nesting location, which already has protective cover at the time of nesting. If good nesting cover is not present, it is a relatively simple matter to provide it. In small odd areas or field borders, (protected from livestock) strips ten to twenty feet wide may be plowed, disked, fertilized, and seeded to grasses which will ultimately provide good nesting cover. Some good grasses for quail are: redtop, timothy, orchard grass, perennial rye grass, and mixtures of some native warm season grasses.

ROOSTING COVER: Quail prefer roosting cover, which provides concealment from above. The roost is usually located in rather open, "clumpy" vegetation away from the dense or tangled escape cover. The birds rely on their concealment color and remaining still to avoid detection.

NATIVE WARM SEASON GRASSES: Native grasses (Big bluestem, Indian grass, etc.) have recently received an increased amount of attention from both stockmen and wildlife managers. Most wildlife, including quail, evolved within a warm season grass ecosystem.

The value of native warm season grasses for wildlife lies with its structure and the time of year when new growth occurs. The tall, stiff, upright stems and elevated leaves effectively reduce wind speed, modify humidity and transpiration extremes, and soften raindrop impact.

The native grass plants hold little moisture during winter months and thereby reduce the humidity at or near ground level (compared to the cool season grasses, e.g. fescue, bluegrass). The dark colors of the dry grass tend to add warmth by absorbing the sun's rays. This, coupled with a lower humidity, reduces the deadly wind-chill factor.

A good stand of native grass will reduce a 9 mph wind at 3 feet above the grass to a velocity of .1 mph at one-half the foliage height. These favorable characteristics persist throughout the winter months. The plant form is able to hold up even under heavy snow and ice.

The "clumpiness" of native grasses allows free movement beneath the protective cover. Smaller birds are able to climb into the clump to escape drowning rains. These traits provide more favorable reproduction conditions to ground nesting birds than do most of the cool season grasses.

Since native grass grows during the summer, other positive characteristics will be noted. The ground level temperature of a native grass field will be 20 degree F. cooler and the humidity will be nearly 30% higher in June when compared to a cornfield. These conditions -- cool and moisture -- are critical for the survival of newly hatched birds during early summer.

Native grasses are attractive to insects, which are an important source of protein for laying hens and growing chicks. Another advantage is that fewer birds’ nests are destroyed during haying operations, due to the later haying date -- usually mid-July.

The soil disturbing activity associated with cover management also results in increasing native annuals that are often excellent quail food sources. Thus operations for food and cover improvement are inseparable. However, specific practices of planned food-patch development, disking and fertilizing of waste areas, sowing of bare ditches to favored food plants help to correct the limiting factors of scarce quail foods.

The application of the various cover and food management practices will vary (especially annual food patches). The location and use of agricultural grain crops on a farming area may often determine the logical placement of annual food patches in a given year.

Long-term quail management should result in permanently established, well-planned and fenced food patches that can be used, retired, or rotated, as the needs demand.

In permanent quail management programs, every consideration should be given to the permanent fencing, with adequate entrance gaps, of major management improvements so that they are (1) protected from damage by livestock grazing and (2) readily accessible for periodic management.

Quail management, like farm management, is a living, ever-changing process. Plants do not stand still; cover changes, and annual food patches must be properly attended. If an annual bird crop is expected, periodic attention must be directed to its annual production.

A variety of good foods must be available in or near escape cover. Birds should be able to walk under good cover (not compelled to fly) to their feeding grounds. Simply having an abundance of food is not enough; it must be high protein food and available when needed.

The bobwhite quail diet will vary a great deal over the state. In the grain producing areas, soybeans are used the most followed by corn, weed seed, and Milo. Quail will rely more heavily upon weed seed and occasionally some small-grain crop residues where available.

Early food habit studies list the twelve principal fall quail foods in order of importance as:

Food is primarily available from three sources: 1) crop residues (waste grain and legumes); 2) native weed seeds, grasses, shrub and tree fruits; and 3) special plantings of grain, herbaceous vegetation and food-bearing shrubs.

CROP RESIDUES: In the past, crop residues of annual small-grains and legumes were abundant and quail commonly preferred them to wild native foods. Intensified cropping, fall plowing, plus heavy grazing have seriously reduced this once important source of quail foods.

There are several practices that can greatly increase quail food production in cropped fields. Most management techniques are compatible with modern farming and the cost is small compared to the benefits to wildlife. Some of these techniques are: 

NATIVE FOODS: Quail eat some plant material and insects in season, but rely principally upon fruits or seeds. Seeds of annual weeds provide about 80% of the bird's diet; those of perennial plants (mainly in the tree group), about 20%. High seed production in the food species favored by quail is a must if high quail numbers are desired.

In many locations, native annual quail food can be increased quickly and simply by disking and fertilizing narrow strips near cover along fencerows, woodlots, field borders, and other waste areas. Disturbing the soil and fertilizing it encourages volunteer growth of native annual food-bearing plants, especially those favored by quail. The application of 13-13-13 or equivalent fertilizer at the rate of 800 pounds per acre will increase the quantity and quality of the food. Spring or fall-disked and fertilized strips can be seeded with Kobe, Korean, or Summit lespedeza. All are excellent quail foods. These plots must be protected from grazing, cutting and burning.

The so-called "waste area" or abandoned field, if fenced and allowed to grow undisturbed, will usually grow up with perennial grasses and shrubs. These may provide good cover but will produce little food. Some of these protected areas, which are no longer needed for cover, should be disked and fertilized every three or four years. This will encourage the growth of annual weeds, which provide native quail foods. These areas, if large enough, are also excellent sites for planting annual food plots. Where no other method of increasing quail food can be followed, disking and fertilizing should not be overlooked.

SPECIAL QUAIL FOOD PLANTINGS: When a maximum number of quail is desired, crop residues and native plants may be inadequate, especially in south Missouri where vast areas of pasture have replace grain crops. To overcome the food shortages, part of the answer may lie in plantings of special food sources, which are well distributed throughout the quail habitat. Special plantings may include clumps of fruit and seed producing shrubs.

A green browse plot of legumes with a thin stand of grass will provide green forage for turkeys, deer and rabbits. It also will attract an abundance of insects for turkey poults and quail chicks.

Size & location: Green browse plots should be at least 1 acre in size. Locate plots on level ridge tops, in bottomlands or along the contour of gentle slopes. The site should be open, tillable and next to suitable cover. Placing the plot at least 50 feet from any woodland edge will reduce competition from trees and allow sunlight to reach the planting. A buffer strip of perennial weeds and woody shrubs will develop over time between the browse plot and the timber, if tall fescue is not present.

For deer and turkey, green browse plots should be spaced about 1/4 mile apart or one per 40-acre area. To be effective for rabbits, however, these plots should be about 1/4 or 1/2 acre in size and about 100 yards apart.

Seedbed preparation, liming & fertilizing: Prepare the seed bed in September or early October. The ground should be plowed and disked until no live vegetation exists. Before seeding, the plot should resemble a vegetable garden ready to be planted. Remember, there is no substitute for a well-prepared seedbed.

Correct fertilization is essential for the successful establishment and long-term maintenance of the green browse plot. Before planting, obtain a soil sample from each plot site. The results of this test will show what fertilizer should be added. Contact your local Rutgers Extension office for help in taking soil samples. The Outreach and Extension agronomist can provide recommendations for both initial fertilization and annual topdressings of fertilizer.

When preparing the seedbed disk fertilizer and limestone into the soil. If recommendations on fertilizer amounts cannot be obtained in time for planting, the following starter application should be sufficient. Correct any deficiencies by top dressing with additional fertilizer at a later date.

Seeding: Each 1-acre green browse plot should be uniformly seeded with 30 pounds of winter wheat and 2 pounds of orchard grass at the time of seedbed preparation (late September or early October). At the same time or in early winter, half of the plot should be over seeded with 2 pounds of ladino clover and 2 pounds of red clover. The following spring (January-March), the other half is over seeded with 10 pounds of lespedeza, which can be Korean, Kobe, Summit or a mixture of these. The lespedeza will provide seed for quail and green forage for other wildlife during the summer when clovers may become dormant.

Maintenance & protection: Mow the plots each year between July 1 and July 15 to reduce any unwanted weeds, using either a rotary or sickle mower. Renovate and reseed the plot in three to four years, if the grasses or weeds have crowded out the legumes.

For maximum value to wildlife, plantings must be protected from excessive grazing. Light grazing to remove about one-half of the growth during the last half of June is desirable in lieu of mowing; however, do not graze during the fall or winter months.

Size and Location: Livestock must be excluded if the food plot is to be of any value to wildlife. (Caution: After frost or drought, the Milo in the mixture may be poisonous to livestock). If an ungrazed area is not available, locate the food plot so that it can be fenced with minimum expense.

Food plots must be located where wildlife using them will have escape cover close by. Good locations will be next to brushy draws, corners or shrubby fencerows, edges of wooded areas, odd areas not used for agricultural purposes, and along travel lanes large enough to afford cover. Heavy cover, such as brush piles, can be added next to the fenced-in area. As a rule, there should be from four to six brush piles of at least fifteen feet in diameter surrounding a quarter-acre food plot.

The minimum size of a food plot is a quarter-acre (approximately 105 ft. by 105 ft.). Anything less than this will not provide enough grain for the long winter months. A more practical program would include one-half acre plots on rotation.

Ideally, a one-acre area is set aside for the food plot. Each year, plant half of this (one-half acre). The following year, plant the other half and allow the first half to grow annual weeds. This rotation will provide native seeds, bare ground for dusting, standing grain for food, and make better use of the fertilizer.

Seed Mixture: A mixture of grain will provide desirable plant diversity. If only one grain is available to be planted, Milo will give the best results. Four pounds of Milo per quarter acre plot should be sufficient.

The seed mixture proved most suitable is: (per 1/4 acre)

Too much seed will increase competition between plants and cause "damp-off" of the Milo. The result of sowing too much seed will be a reduction in the amount of grain produced at maturity. Ragweed and other seed producing weeds should also be encouraged both in and around the food plot.

Planting Method and Time: If the results of a soil test are not available, at least 200 lbs. of 13-13-13 fertilizer or its equivalent should be applied to the quarter-acre plot. A firm seedbed, free of live grass, is a must. Generally, the planting date will be around the first week in June. Apply agricultural limestone to bring the soil pH to around 6.5 for best results.

The seed mixture can be hand broadcast and then it should be covered lightly.

Korean Lespedeza and its varieties are well adapted and useful in quail management programs.

Korean seeds are produced in clusters at the tip of the branches while Kobe lespedeza (another good variety) sets seed directly along the stem. Korean seed is maintained longer where Kobe has a tendency to shatter early. Once established, lespedeza will reseed itself and maintain a stand for many years.

As a wildlife food, Korean lespedeza is excellent. It is useful in quail management operations since it is adapted to waste edges and to food patches planted on a rotation basis. Korean excels as seed and browse food for deer, turkey, and rabbits, also.

The Summit variety of Korean lespedeza is more resistant to disease and is used in many areas. Unfortunately, this variety sets less seed after late haying than does regular Korean. Regular Korean still appears to be the better form for use in wildlife plantings.

The daily water requirements of quail are usually met through the moisture derived from green plants, food, insects, dew and snow. Under normal conditions, surface water is not required although the birds readily use it.

Surface water of streams and ponds become increasingly important during periodic drought periods. During the more severe drought years, quail production and fall coveys are often confined to those areas near open water.

The development of good cover near existing water sources should be considered throughout each forty-acre unit of a project area. Pond water serves many purposes from watering farm stock and quail, to bird-dogs during the hunting season. These ponds should be deep enough to insure a source of water during the long dry summer months.

Quail management, like farm management, is an ever-changing process. Through time, both plant stages and cover types change. If an annual bird crop is expected, periodic attention must be directed to its annual production. Quail are no longer the by-product of a farming operation -- quail production requires planning ahead!!

The Important Items to Consider Are:

Cover

Food

Water

The average-size New Jersey farm has plenty of room for rabbit management. Under good conditions, the home range of a cottontail is often less than 5 acres.

Rabbits need well-distributed escape cover, such as brush piles, an ample year-round food supply, and safe places for nesting and raising their young.

Food management: Rabbits eat plant foods. Bluegrass is nearly a year-round food, although not heavily used during the summer. Sprouting wheat, corn kernels and Milo seeds are important during fall and winter. Cheat, an annual grass, is an important food during early spring. Good summer foods are white clover, Korean lespedeza and crabgrass. These foods must be of high quality and next to good rabbit cover.

Water management: Although rabbits drink from surface water during hot, dry spells, they obtain most of the water they need from the succulent plants they eat.

Cover management: Dense, well-distributed protective cover is the most critical element in good rabbit habitat. Brush piles located in the right places bring the quickest response of all the management tools. Rabbits often take over a brush pile the night after construction. Place brush piles close to other permanent cover, such as briars, fencerows or woods. Don't burn brush piles left from clearing; instead, push them to the edges of the field for cover.

Discarded Christmas trees make ideal brush piles for rabbits. To make them even more effective, place an old skid or some other similar material on the ground and then pile enough Christmas trees on top to make a pile about the size of a car.

Some trees, such as locust, will remain alive for several years when "lopped over" or "hinged." If the top is allowed to remain attached to the stump, the twigs and limbs will provide both food and cover.

Odd or non-agricultural areas - such as woodlots, gullies and pond sites - that are allowed to grow briars, brush and tree sprouts will provide excellent nesting sites for rabbits and other wildlife. Fencing these areas to exclude cattle improves existing cover and allows grass and shrubs to thrive. When fencerows are protected from grazing and the larger trees along the row are topped, the resulting low, dense growth also will provide good rabbit cover.

Food management: The number one food of wild turkeys throughout the year is acorns, but they also eat the seeds, buds, leaves and tubers of many other plants. Their principal natural plant foods fit into a few general categories: mast (acorns and pine nuts); fruits (dogwood, grapes, cherry, gum, persimmon, juniper); seeds (native grasses and sedges, weeds); and greens (grasses and grass-like plants, selected annual and perennial broad-leaved plants).

These birds also eat insects, and a management plan for year-round food must include clearings where they can forage for them. At least 10 percent of the forest area should be in scattered openings.

Seasonal fluctuations in one type of natural food will usually create few problems for wild turkeys. Low production of one food usually coincides with high production of another.

Domestic crops, such as soybeans, cowpeas, buckwheat, sorghum grain, corn, oats and millet, also are desirable foods for turkeys.

Water management: Wild turkeys require surface water and ordinarily are not found where it is lacking. One pond, stream or other water source per quarter section of land is usually adequate for good turkey habitat.

Cover management: Turkeys prefer open, mature woods. Studies show that stands of large trees will support twice as many turkeys as other woodland types. Turkeys also use stands of smaller trees if the under story is not too dense.

Food management: White-tailed deer are browsing animals. They eat the succulent tips of many different shrubs, vines and trees, along with a variety of other foods. No one food predominates throughout the year. What deer eat depends on the availability of the food, its abundance and the season. A deer management plan should include adequate food supplies for all times of the year.

Spring and summer browse: Summer foods consist mainly of the leaves of annual and perennial plants and shrubs. Deer prefer summer grape, red clover, Virginia creeper and Korean lespedeza during this period.

Fall and winter foods - If plentiful, acorns are the primary food. Lacking acorns, deer feed on corn, lespedeza, wheat, other crops and native plants, such as sumac and buckbrush. Twigs of sapling trees and various shrubs also are important winter foods.

Woodlots can be managed for deer food production by maintaining acorn-producing trees, creating brush and protecting the woodlot from grazing cattle. About 54 percent of the deer's year-round diet is acorns. For a good supply of acorns, maintain mature oak trees of several species, such as post, black, white, northern red, chinquapin, blackjack and scarlet. About 20 acorn-producing oaks per acre are required to support deer.

These trees should average at least 14 inches in diameter at breast height (DBH). The number of acorns produced by each tree will depend on its crown size, age and health, and on the weather.

Creating "brush" is the most commonly used technique for improving white-tailed deer habitat. The brush stage, or seedling/sapling forest, has nearly three times the amount of twig production, or browse, per acre than a saw-timber stand. Timber harvest is a good way to create brush, but be sure to leave enough mature oak trees for a satisfactory acorn crop. Shrubs and vines are another type of brush. Some common shrubs browsed by deer are: blueberry, flowering dogwood, witch-hazel, serviceberry and viburnum. The woodlot should be fenced to exclude livestock because they compete directly with deer for food.

You can increase the number of squirrels on most farms that have some woods. Certain practices, such as installing den boxes, give prompt results. Others require several years to take effect. 

Food management: Woodlands of around 40 acres or larger with at least 50-75 trees that produce nuts, seeds or fruits - such as oak, hickory, walnut, elm, maple and mulberry - are usually good squirrel habitat. Mature trees will increase the volume of food produced.

Timber stand improvement, or TSI, which reduces competition among trees, will increase the production of acorns and other squirrel foods. Any practice that increases the diversity of plants within a woodlot will usually benefit squirrels.

In years when natural foods, especially acorns and nuts, are in short supply, squirrel-feeding stations stocked with corn, nuts and other foods can be beneficial.

Management for den sites: The supply of den trees - those with cavities for shelter and nesting - is a major factor limiting squirrel populations. A mature forest usually has more cavities for squirrels than a younger woodland.

In woodlots with fewer than four natural dens per acre, artificial dens will be of value. A pair of squirrels usually requires two to three dens - one each for the male and female, and one for raising the young. Competition for dens among squirrels, owls, bees, snakes and other cavity users is intense. When artificial dens are supplied, some of this competition is reduced. Dens can be built from auto tires, rough lumber, sawmill slabs, nail kegs or hollow logs cut in sections.

The capacity for pheasants to reach and/or maintain huntable populations depends upon the quality and quantity of the habitat. Pheasant do best where agricultural practices include grain crops, hay, and grassland in a diversified pattern. The keys to suitable pheasant habitat are undisturbed nesting cover from May through July, well-distributed protective cover in winter, and an ample food source near both of the above cover types. All three of these life requirements should be present within 100 acres or less, the average home range of a pheasant.

FOOD HABITS: Pheasants are essentially seedeaters and cultivated crops make up the bulk of their diet. Due to the widespread availability of waste grain, food is generally not a limiting factor, except in areas where fall plowing is a common practice. Food requirements should be considered, therefore, when attempting to improve or manage pheasant habitat.

Spring (March-May): Corn and sunflower are the dominant foods as crop residue and succulent shoots. Water smartweed is used in March, bur-cucumber (Sicyos angulatus) in April, and green leaf material in May.

Summer (June-August): Corn, wheat, giant and yellow foxtail, Japanese millet and wild cherry are taken in late summer. Snout beetles, grasshoppers, leaf beetles, worms and snails are important animal foods.

Fall (September-November): Corn, soybeans, wheat and grain sorghum comprise over half the fall pheasant diet. Other foods include great ragweed, giant foxtail, annual sunflower, grasshoppers and ground beetles.

Winter (December-February): The principal food is corn. Some native plants, particularly sunflower, bur-cucumber, ragweed, foxtail, and false buckwheat are used. The most important crop residues, however, are corn, wheat, barley, oats, rye and soybeans.

Year Long: The top five cultivated foods (in order of importance) are corn, soybeans, wheat, grain sorghum, and oats. High priority native foods are sunflower, giant foxtail, bur-cucumber, false buckwheat, and yellow foxtail. Usually, less than 15% of the diet will consist of fruits such as grape, sumac, coralberry, rose hips, poison ivy, and bittersweet. Insects make up from 10 to 20% of the diet.

To maintain good habitat, food studies show that 50 percent of the land should be in row crops such as corn and soybeans. However, non-agricultural areas, set-aside acres, wetlands, roadsides, and weedy draws become important as alternate feeding sites where agricultural lands are extensively fall plowed. Where corn cannot be used, wheat, oats, barley, soybeans, or even plowed ground left fallow for its ragweed, smartweed, and foxtail grass seed crops, all may be used.

NESTING COVER: One of the most critical components of pheasant habitat is suitable, undisturbed nesting cover. Preferred nesting cover consists of dense, leafy-stemmed, erect, herbaceous vegetation with an overhead canopy. Residual vegetation 12 inches in height and taller is excellent for nesting. Primary nesting areas include grass and legume hayfields, roadsides, wetlands, weedy draws, and native grass pastures.

Cool-season grass hayfields (alfalfa-smooth brome) are heavily used for nesting. Unfortunately, these fields may turn into death traps since mowing normally occurs during the time the hen is incubating the eggs. The average egg-laying period for pheasants begins in late April and early May. The peak hatch occurs the first week of June. During a normal year, farmers cut alfalfa and other hay during the first two weeks of June. The chances of a successful renest after a disturbance is very slim, since the second mowing may also interfere.

Nesting cover should be undisturbed from mid-May to August, to maintain or enhance pheasant production. The best program would be to include the establishment of permanent nesting areas on the farm.

Hayfields: The first cutting of existing alfalfa-brome grass hayfields should be completed before the 20th of May. Second cuttings or seed harvest should be delayed until after the first of August to ensure the highest possible hatching success rates.

Both red clover and sweet clover should be grown for seed rather than hay. For best seed production, red clover should be clipped to a height of 6 to 8 inches about the fifth of May. After this clipping, the red clover should be allowed to set seed and mature until the end of September. This time period is sufficient for pheasant hens to establish nests and successfully bring off broods. When grown for seed, sweet clover should not be clipped prior to a mid-August seed harvest. Mowing should be avoided on wildlife areas where cool-season grasses are to become permanent nesting cover. When circumstances dictate disturbances to enhance optimum cover density (every 3 to 5 years), spring burning should be completed before April 15. If mechanical clipping or pasturing is the selected techniques, these activities should start after August 1.

Warm-season grasses should receive top priority when establishing permanent nesting cover. Recent studies in southern Iowa revealed that pheasant nesting densities in switchgrass and mixed native grass exceeded densities in traditionally preferred alfalfa-orchard grass. Pheasant nesting success was greatest in switchgrass. Switchgrass is especially important as nesting cover since stems from the previous year remain erect throughout the winter and provide residual nesting cover the following spring.

Several factors need to be considered when planting warm-season grasses for pheasants: A field size of greater than 10 acres is recommended (studies show lower nest densities in smaller fields); plantings should be within 1/4 mile of available food and within a ½ mile of roosting cover. Refer to warm season grass planting guides for detail on methods of seeding and management.

Strip Cover: Roadsides, ditches, and levees are well known for their pheasant nesting potential. Suggested management of these areas is to mow only once every 2 to 3 years, after August 1. Spot herbicide treatment is encouraged over clipping for noxious weed control. Switchgrass is recommended when establishing vegetation in these areas. "Matting" species such as crown vetch and birds' foot trefoil should be avoided.

Fencerows, field borders, and stream banks are often composed of herbaceous and woody cover that pheasants can use to nest. These areas are also prime targets for farmers who are looking for more cropland. The main management practice, over and above retaining these habitat types, is to maintain adequate width, speciation, and cover density. Excluding cattle and controlling shrubby invasion may improve these areas.

Wetlands: The emergent vegetation zones of wetlands are important nesting cover where this habitat type occurs in the pheasant range. Secondary succession on drained sites will afford nesting cover only if the area dries out by early May. Canary grass, aster-goldenrod, and mixed sedges are more attractive for nesting than monotypic sedge and cattail cover. The use of wetland cover for nesting is determined by the amount and quality of residual cover present in the spring. Vegetation resistant to flattening and providing semi-upright clumps are higher priority nesting sites in wetlands.

The most important management needed is to retain the wetland areas. Steps to reduce or eliminate frequent burning and/or draining are necessary.

Winter cover is the second most vital habitat component for pheasant survival. Effective winter cover should stop snowdrift, reduce wind chill, and provide protection from predators. It is very important to provide adequate winter cover within one-half mile of an available food source.

Agricultural Land: Cultivated areas occupy most of the area within the primary pheasant range. Row cropped areas provide pheasant foods and could be suitable for wintering cover if fall plowing is curtailed. Residual vegetation (in unplowed fields) also reduces soil erosion and retains soil moisture.

Odd Areas: Woodlot borders, fencerows, field borders, and stream banks are frequently composed of low, brushy, dense forbs useful as winter roosting and feeding cover. These areas are extremely important because they furnish a permanency not afforded by crops. They are often the first to be "cleaned up" on a farm. Therefore, the first management technique is to encourage operators or landowners to leave the border areas. If these areas are to be retained, frequent burning, cutting, spraying or grazing should be eliminated.

Woodlots: Woodlots, well distributed and surrounded by fertile croplands, provide excellent winter refuge for pheasants. Woodlots with an abundance of shrubby growth from 6 to 30 feet in height and an under story of dense ground cover are the most desirable. Cutting or planting on a rotation basis, which allows any part or all of the woods to contain early successional stages of brush, is best for pheasants. Grazing and fire should be excluded.

Wetlands: Wetlands and marshy areas provide winter refuge for pheasants. Waterfowl areas can harbor good to excellent winter populations of pheasant. Emergent vegetation (heavy stands of cattail) and closed-canopy shrubs (willow or dogwood) ensure pheasants protection from moderate to heavy snowfall. Wintering birds tolerate crowding, so the acreage of woody cover can be as small as 5 to 10 acres. Each wintering unit is increased in value when closely associated with herbaceous vegetation which doubles as roosting cover in the winter and as nesting cover in the spring.

URL http://www.conservation.state.mo.us
Last Revision Date: 07/07/97