Game Bird Research Topics

Northern Bobwhite Quail Recordings

Graduate student Randy Cass recorded vocalizations of nesting bobwhites with a digital recorder and microphone. The microphones were placed at the top of the nest bowl at least four days before hatching. From 14 nests we found the incubating parent began calling an average time of 24 hours and 52 minutes before leaving the nest. The minimum duration of calling was 16 hours and 16 minutes while the longest lasted 38 hours and 13 minutes! Read more and listen to the recordings .

How Many Bobwhite Coveys Are There?

Obtaining an autumn bobwhite abundance estimate for your favorite hunting area or research study site is easier than it seems and it can enjoyable too! Many experienced bobwhite hunters, land managers, and researchers know that coveys can be located during daybreak by their “covey” call. While this method works well for finding coveys, it has never been taken to the next step and developed into a way to estimate abundance. This guide consolidates 4 years of research on developing methods to estimate their numbers using this unique calling behavior. Read more.

Timber Density and Quail

While maximizing timber and bobwhite on the same area is impossible, the relationship between timber and bobwhite numbers has yet to be adequately quantified. Therefore, for 3 years we monitored bobwhite populations on 6 sites across the Red Hills using covey call point counts and relating this index of bobwhite abundance to timber density. Read more.

Quail Genetics Research

The Northern Bobwhite Genetics Project is a collaborative research effort involving participants from several institutions. However, the majority of this project is a collaboration between researchers working at Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy, the University of Georgia, Mississippi State University, and the Albany Area Quail Project. Learn more.

Effects of Supplemental Feeding on Bobwhite Quail Populations

Few studies have assessed the long-term influence of supplemental feeding on bobwhite populations. Demographically, supplemental feeding may affect seasonal survival, nesting, nest success, and chick survival. Because the influence of weather, natural food supplies, and predators interact and vary annually, the likelihood that supplemental feeding influences a bobwhite population similarly each year is low. Read more.

Quail Nest Video Clips

Prior to recent innovations in micro-camera surveillance technology little was known about quail nest predators. Quail researchers were only able to infer the cause of the nest failure by the remains and the condition of the nest after the predation event. In order to get a better understanding of which predators were depredating quail nests Tall Timbers began investing in small waterproof video cameras. Read more and view video clips.

Quail Call Newsletter

Quail Call is a newsletter for Red Hills Quail Management published annually by Tall Timbers.
See current and past issues of the Quail Call Newsletter.

Research Notes

The Tall Timbers Research Notes Newsletter is published every other month.
See current and past issues of the Research Notes Newsletter.