Number 8
HABITAT REQUIREMENTS
Bobwhite
Quail
(Northern
Bobwhite) is a popular game bird.
Good
habitat
requires
an
interspersion
or
mixture
of
woodlands, brush, grass, and
croplands. Quail are social birds
that gather in groups called
"coveys. As many as 10 to 30
birds may form a covey in which
they forage and roost closely
together.
An open overstory is the most
important component of quail
habitat. An abundance of quail can
be found in areas of early
successional stages such as those
recently tilled, burned, or cut over.
After such disturbance, quail may
remain for 3 or 4 years. However,
if ground litter and understory
become too thick to easily find food
and move around, quail may
relocate to another area of early
succession.
Plants
Lespedeza
Acorns
Cowpea
Milkpea
Soybean
Longleaf Pine
Corn
Beggarweed
Partridge Pea
Ragweed
Paspalum
Dogwood
Loblolly Pine
Insects
Beetles
Cricket
Spiders
Grasshopper
Caterpillars
Cock
Hen
Food
Distributed in furtherance
of the acts of Congress of
May 8 and June 30, 1914.
Employment and program
opportunities are offered to
all people regardless of
race, color, national origin,
sex, age, or disability.
North Carolina State
University, North Carolina
A & T State University, US
Department of Agriculture,
and local governments
Quail are primarily seed eaters,
although their diet covers a wide
range of plant and animal matter.
Small hard mast, weed seeds,
tender leaves, fleshy fruits, bugs,
insects, and snails are the primary
foods consumed throughout the
year.
Bobwhite Quail
North Carolina
Cooperative Extension Service
North Carolina State University
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
College of Forest Resources
Page 2
Cover
A combination of woodlands, brush,
grass, and croplands is necessary for
quail habitat. Foraging and nesting
ranges require different vegetative cover.
Foraging range must have open areas
of little cover. Quail forage by searching
the ground for seeds, fruits, and animal
matter. Areas having thick ground litter or
dense vegetation will be abandoned by
quail.
Nesting range must have low shrubs, tall
grass, brush, or any kind of cover in which
to hide. Fencerows, streambanks, and
transitions between woodlands and open
fields are the most common nesting
places. After courtship in the spring, a pair
of quail builds a nest by scratching a
depression in the soil. The nest is lined
with dead grass and concealed by weeds
and tall grass.
Water
Surface water is not essential. Quail get
moisture from dew drops, rain, snow,
succulent leaves, fleshy fruits, and
insects.
Home Range
In good habitat, the home range of quail is
about 40 acres per covey. Over 75
percent of adult quail have a lifetime
range of 1/2 mile or less.
N.C. Cooperative Extension Service
Quail Habitat Improvement
Tips
General:
Manage small areas of grass, brush,
shrub, and woodlands in close proximity to
one another
Thin pine stands frequently
Favor wide tree spacing allowing sunlight
to reach the forest floor
Regeneration:
Make regeneration cuts
shapes to maximize edge
in
irregular
Favor Longleaf Pine over other pines
Allow small hardwood patches to grow
within pine types
Favor hardwood species that produce
small, hard mast
Intermediate Treatments:
Keep pine stands as open as possible by
thinning and burning
Favor berry and seed producing species
along stream bottoms
Prescribed Burning:
Frequently burn to renew herbaceous
vegetation
Use burns to maintain natural openings
Do not burn mast producing areas
Limit burns to winter months
Working With Wildlife # 8 - Bobwhite Quail
Page 3
Direct Improvements:
Construct large, loose brush piles or plant shrubs in areas lacking cover
Establish permanent clearings near brushlands and woodlands (not grazing land)
Plant annual and perennial food in openings
Leave small areas of grain unharvested in croplands
Cost share assistance may be available through the Stewardship Incentive Program for
these practices. See your Wildlife Biologist, Forester, or Extension Agent for more
information about the Forest Stewardship Program.
Creek
Pine
Plantation
Oak-Beech-Hickory
Blackberry
Patch
50 ft. Fire Lanes
Daylighted Road
Pine - Red Maple - Gum
Thinned Pine
18 yrs old
20 ft. Fire Lanes
Pine - 25 years old
Quail Food/Cover
Patch
Crop Field
Heavy
Cover
Food Plots
Wild
Plum
Thicket
Crop
Field
Quail Habitat Management with Prescribed Burning and Food Plots
Prepared by:
Edwin J. Jones, Department Extension Leader,
Michael S. Mitchell, Graduate Research Assistant,
Mark A. Megalos, Extension Forestry Specialist
Page 4
Quail illustration on page 1 and Quail Habitat Management Diagram on page 3 used
with permission from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Other Wildlife Notes Available:
No. 1 - Endangered Species
No. 14 - Snags and Downed Logs
No. 2 - Eastern Gray Squirrel
No. 15 - Managing Edges for Wildlife
No. 3 - White-tailed Deer
No. 16 - Building Songbird Boxes
No. 4 - Songbirds
No. 17 - Woodland Wildlife Nest Boxes
No. 5 - Wild Turkey
No. 18 - Low Cost Habitat Improvements
No. 6 - Wood Duck
No. 19 - Pools for Amphibians
No. 7 - Cottontail Rabbit
No. 20 - Hummingbirds and Butterflies
No. 8 - Bobwhite Quail
No. 21 - Bats
No. 9 - Ruffed Grouse
No. 22 - Owls
No. 10 - Black Bear
No. 23 - Managing Beaver Ponds
No. 11 - Raccoon
No. 24 - Herbaceous Plants for Wildlife
No. 12 - Mourning Dove
No. 25 - SIP Wildlife Opportunities
No. 13 - Wildlife Terms
FOREST STEWARDSHIP
a cooperative program for
improving and maintaining all of the
resources on private forestland
11-94-4M-WWW-8
