This winter’s low temperatures have taken its toll on the already declining Missouri northern bobwhite quail population.
The small, ground-dwelling bird popular among small game hunters has experienced a significant population decline over the past century. In 1967 more than 160,000 people hunted quail in Missouri. From 2016 to 2017, fewer than 15,000 people hunted quail.
Fred Thompson, a research wildlife biologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said this harsh winter will likely cause a high mortality rate for quail.
Thompson highlights the importance of bobwhite quail because the health of the bobwhite population is a good indicator of the health of the grassland landscape overall.
“There’s lots of other birds that require similar habitat components, and if bobwhites are doing well there, a lot of these other birds are probably doing well too,” Thompson said.
Bobwhites need more food in winter to make up for energy expenditure in the cold. Thick ice or snowfall can make it difficult to find the grains and seeds bobwhites depend on to survive. Without a good habitat, survival is a struggle. Changing land use in Missouri has relegated quail coveys to living in isolated spots instead of being spread out over the state.
Dave Hoover, the small game coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation, said this is the harshest winter the quail have experienced in about five years. Hoover said the Department of Conservation has made it a priority to help the environment be hospitable for quail again.
“We really want to keep that iconic species albeit a game bird on the landscape so that our future generations will also know what it’s like to hear a bobwhite call in the springtime or flush a covey,” Hoover said. “I don’t really want to have my grandkids ask one day to see a picture of a quail and ask what it is because they don’t know.”
Missourians who don’t own farms or large plots of land can help the local quail population by planting prairie grasses on their property or by donating to organizations such as the Quail Forever Missouri Habitat Fund.