Imagine working in the countryside – building a fence, mowing the grass, or hanging laundry – and you stop for a moment to wipe the sweat from your brow. Pastureland stretches into the distance. Taller grass grows nearer, coming up around a fence line and some old farm equipment, all of it baking in the summer sun. It’s hot, so you pause long enough to take a big breath, and unintentionally, you hear the sounds around you. A locust buzzes through the air. Then you hear a bird whistle, way off, with a two-note call: one small, short note, followed by a longer note that goes up at the end. Or was it three notes? “Poor-bob-white,” it sounded like. You smile. That’s a bob-white quail, a plump little bird you know is running about the fields, seldom seen, but often heard.
Quail, also known as northern bobwhite or Colinus virginianus, are a bird distinctive of the southeastern United States, whose range extends into parts of the Midwest and Texas. They are found in pine woodlands and shrubby pastures, where groups of birds, called coveys, run swiftly across open ground between patches of cover, searching for insects, leaves, and seeds to eat. They are somewhat picky birds, sticking to the habitats they know and love. Frequently burned pine forests are best. Where their habitat is destroyed – either by land development, or by incompatible land management – the quail decline and disappear. Over the past thirty years, populations have shrunk by an estimated 70%.
Locally, quail share the same habitat with many of Florida’s best and most beautiful wildlife, which makes quail a top interest for land restoration, management, and conservation. In conservation biology, such an animal is called an “umbrella species,” because helping that animal also helps many animals under the same umbrella.
One animal under the “quail-brella” is the gopher tortoise, Gopherus Polyphemus. Gopher tortoise are one of Florida’s most important animals, because their burrows provide year-round protection for other wildlife seeking refuge from fires, hurricanes, cold weather, hot weather, predators, and other dangers. In fact, researchers have documented more than 350 types of critters living in gopher tortoise burrows. Some of these, such as the gopher frog and gopher mouse, live only in gopher tortoise burrows. (How strange!) Also found in tortoise burrows are eastern indigo snakes, eastern diamondback rattlers, coachwhip snakes, black racers, and rat snakes. Alongside these are various mammals – shrews, rabbits and mice – strangely unharmed by the snakes – along with frogs, toads, skinks, and countless insects. They all get along within the comfort of the burrow, but venture into quail-world to breed and feed. The quail ecosystem is fascinating.
Because much of Florida’s best wildlife are found in quail habitat, helping quail makes good conservation sense. Perhaps counter-intuitively, quail hunters may help quail the most. In fact, quail are so loved for hunting, they are one of the most studied and most helped birds on the planet. That’s good news for all wildlife sharing their habitat.
In the Manatee-Sarasota region, there’s a lot we can do to help quail – whether you hunt birds or just listen to their iconic whistle. Protecting and managing quail habitat is key, both on public and private lands.
For landowners wishing to manage their land for quail, success depends upon habitat quality and size. Each covey requires more than fifteen acres, and only large populations, ranging over a few thousand acres, can be expected to truly thrive. Landowners with acreage in the countryside have the greatest opportunity to help quail on their land. Those with property more closely resembling pine woods, with larger acreage abutting preserves or other suitable habitat, will have the easiest go of things. With the right situation, improvements can be made to attract and sustain quail.
If you want to help quail on your land, you can learn more about land preservation options at ConservationFoundation.com/landowner-resources. You can also contact me, Conservation Foundation Land Stewardship Manager, Lee Amos, at lee@conservationfoundation.com. Depending on the specifics of your property, I can connect you with a quail management technical manual, management cost-share assistance, free services for management planning, or funding for long-term preservation.
For those interested in taking a deep dive into land management for quail on their own, I suggest picking up a copy of Tall Timbers’ Bobwhite Quail Management Handbook.
Finally, if you want to visit local quail lands, seek out pine woods and palmetto prairies that are maintained with frequent prescribed burns. Four local public lands offer hunting, hiking, and camping: Duette Preserve in Duette (Manatee County), Myakka State Forest in Venice, Babcock-Webb Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Punta Gorda, and the 5,777-acre Orange Hammock Ranch WMA in North Port, purchased in 2020 by the State with Conservation Foundation’s assistance. Also worthwhile are Lake Manatee State Park in Bradenton and Myakka River State Park in Sarasota, which, as State Parks, do not permit hunting.
However you choose to support quail and quail-friends, keep an ear out for that iconic two or three-note whistle. It’s part of being a Floridian.
This post was originally written for and appeared in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The text has been updated and edited for this blog.
