Some Mississippi hunters may remember a time not toolong ago when the bobwhite quail was one of the mostpopular game species in the Magnolia State. It may

seem hard to believe, but forty years ago, when deer popula-tions were still becoming established in many portions ofMississippi, quail hunting was a common pastime across ourpart of the South, and stories of great bird dogs are retoldtoday by many of our fathers and grandfathers. It’s unfortu-

nate, but many folks, particularly young and new hunters,were not around to enjoy those days. The decline of the bob-white quail over the past 40 years has been much discussedand well documented, and today the bird exists in relativelylow numbers across much of the state. We know that manyfactors have conspired to cause such a noticeable change inquail populations, but the primary cause has been the signif-icant reduction in the quality and quantity of suitable habitat.

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By Dave Godwin and Rick HamrickSimply put, the way we used our land 40 years ago producedexcellent quail habitat as an accidental by-product.

By comparison, current land-use practices within ourforests, farmland, and grazing lands generally result in poorhabitat for quail. The recovery of bobwhite quail throughhabitat improvement is an important conservation issue forwildlife biologists across the range of the bird and particu-larly for MDWFP’s Small Game and Habitat programs.

Regional Quail Conservation

First of all, the decline of the bobwhite quail populationgoes well beyond the borders of the Magnolia State. In fact,data from national bird monitoring efforts suggest that bob-whites have been declining since at least 1966 across mostof the range of the bird. While each state wildlife agency hadits own approach to quail conservation, the efforts were notwell organized before 1995 when the Southeast Quail StudyGroup (SEQSG) was formed to bring together bobwhite ex-perts from across the region. In 1998, the directors of the Southeastern states’ fish andwildlife agencies charged the SEQSG to develop a regionalrecovery plan for bobwhites. The end result was the NorthernBobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI), a recovery planfor “Northern Bobwhites” (the proper common name forbobwhite quail) across 22 southeastern states. The ultimategoal of the NBCI was to restore bobwhite quail populationsto levels found in 1980 – a significant undertaking by anystretch of the imagination. The NBCI provides an important road map for states work-ing to recover bobwhite populations and has helped conser-vation interests influence national policies that increase andimprove bobwhite habitat. For example, members of the Con-gressional Sportsmen’s Caucus inserted language into the2002 Farm Bill that encouraged the Secretary of Agricultureto support the habitat conservation objectives of the NBCI.As a result, the SEQSG and USDA’s Farm Service Agencyhave collaborated to develop numerous bobwhite-friendlypractices such as the Conservation Reserve Program “Bob-white Buffer” practice (CP-33) and whole-field habitat prac-tices (CP-38). Intensive monitoring efforts have documentedthat these practices are increasing local populations of quailand other wildlife. More recently, the SEQSG expanded to become the Na-tional Bobwhite Technical Committee (NBTC) in an effortto include some states (with quail) in the Midwest, West, andNortheast. The NBCI has also been expanded to reflect thischange, becoming more of a true range-wide recovery plan(the NBCI was recently renamed National Bobwhite Conser-vation Initiative). Today, the NBCI office is housed at theUniversity of Tennessee and is a collaboration of state, fed-eral, and private organizations and agencies that continues tobe the focal point of bobwhite recovery efforts nationwide.For more information on the NBCI or the NBTC, please visitwww.bringbackbobwhites.org.

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Bobwhite quail have been in decline in Mississippi since at least the 1960s, but efforts are under way to help reverse this decline.

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Quail Conservation in Mississippi

Here at home, the MDWFP has collaborated with Missis-sippi State University and other partners to sharpen the focusof NBCI down to the state level, and together have developeda proactive recovery plan for quail in the Magnolia State. TheMDWFP is committed to working with landowners interestedin quail management anywhere in Mississippi. However, theplan recognizes that there are some areas within the state thatare better suited for quail, and thus targets quail conservationin those areas where we might have greater chances of suc-cess. While there is no doubt that focusing on private lands isthe key to achieving any wide-ranging success with bob-white recovery, the MDWFP has emphasized quail habitat onsome of its public Wildlife Management Areas. This empha-sis on some state-owned WMAs (such as Charles Ray NixWMA in Panola County) is providing some extremely inter-esting results (i.e. noticeable increases in local quail popula-tions), as well as serving as demonstration areas where otherlandowners can observe successful management techniquesfirst-hand. The great news is that managers have had some success inhelping quail populations rebound in Mississippi. Both pri-vate and public land managers have documented increases inpopulations in areas where sound management results inhabitat that successfully provides the life requirements ofbobwhites. One of the more encouraging results has been the

ability of the “Bobwhite Buffers” practice to producecountable increases in quail just by adding suitablecover along the borders of working Mississippi cropfields. Cost-share opportunities available make thispractice a win-win for farmers and for wildlife. Quail management is really no more difficult thanproper management for other wildlife, but it does re-quire active habitat manipulation such as disking andburning every year. Therefore, quail habitat manage-ment is intensive. Furthermore, quail habitat must bemanaged at an adequate scale (often 5,000 acres ormore) to produce populations that can be sustainablyhunted. Although these facts may seem discouraging,suitable quail habitat can be restored across multiplelandholdings if landowners believe it is important. Ifyou want to succeed, get to know your neighbors andwork with them to make a difference for quail. The vast majority of existing or potential quailhabitat in Mississippi occurs on private lands. Thus,private landowners are essential to successful quailhabitat and population restoration goals. TheMDWFP provides technical guidance to privatelandowners interested in managing quail habitat any-where in the state. For additional information on bobwhite quail man-agement and conservation in Mississippi, visit ouragency quail page at home.mdwfp.com/quail or call(601) 432-2199.

What Can You Do to Help?

If you are interested in seeing bobwhite quail populationsrestored in Mississippi, perhaps the best thing that you cando is to become involved in one of the many conservation or-ganizations that promote habitat management for quail andother wildlife. While many Mississippians are clearly inter-ested in quail, quail hunters and quail enthusiasts have neverbeen well organized within our state. Organizations such asQuail Unlimited, Quail Forever, Quail and Upland WildlifeFederation, and the National Wild Turkey Federation all pro-mote bobwhite conservation. Look into these organizationsand see if you are interested in helping them promote habitatfor bobwhites and other upland wildlife. Take the time to visitthe websites that were mentioned in this article, become fa-miliar with what is being done to promote quail conservationin Mississippi and across the range of the species. Learn as

much as you can about quail habitat and management, andencourage others with similar interests to do the same. If youare still actively hunting quail, please help the MDWFP tomonitor populations by participating in the Small GameHunter Survey (see home.mdwfp.com/quail), and pleasemake every effort to introduce youth to quail hunting. The whistle of bobwhites has been a welcome signal ofspring for many generations. Countless hunters of all ageshave anxiously anticipated a covey flush just in front of agood bird dog. With dedication, persistence, and patience,we can bring back local bobwhite populations to maintainthese great traditions.

Dave Godwin is Small Game and Turkey Program Coordi-nator, and Rick Hamrick is Small Game Program Leader forthe Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.Both live in Starkville.

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Native grass and wildflower cover established along the edges of crop fields provide critical cover for quail. Field edges are often lower-yielding

areas for crops, so little production is sacrificed to provide quail habitat.

Upland forest management is a critical part ofquail habitat restoration. Thinning and prescribedburning can be used to produce ground cover

conditions utilized by quail.

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