Bobwhite advice wanted

Releasing Bobwhites is a very controversial subject. Some say it can't be done, others say it can. Well, yes you can release them. But even the professionals have a hard time doing these release programs with any success. It is not necessarily the vegetation you are planting or their environment. But pen raised Bobs have bonded with humans. They look for food, water and protection from us humans. Being pen raised, they lose their natural instincts to survive predation and breed. If they do not starve or die of thirst, the predators will get them. They rarely breed in the wild, and that is if they get to the age of breeding. They say the average life span of a pen raised Bob, even under the BEST of conditions is about 2 to 90 days.

The professionals have had the best of luck when the birds are raised completely out of sight of humans. They come in in the dark to do clean up, feeding and watering so the birds never see humans. Even these rarely, if ever make it past a few nights due to predation.

The first thing you need to do is contact your Fish and Game dept. to see if it is legal to do a release program as it is illegal to endanger the natural wild Quail in your area. Pen raise Bobs can carry diseases that can kill of the wild populations. You may also need a license to do so as well.

If you get to the point of actually going thru with this program, you need to start a predator removal program to give them a chance to survive. So that means trapping, relocating or killing off all predators in your area.

I have not had personal experience with trying to introduce a population, but agree that success points to habitat and predation control (including human) as two key components to improved survival.  One gentleman I know that did pheasant release studies said feeding the birds a diet of native seeds helped improve survival rates along with treating them for gapeworm prior to release.  The successful bobwhite accounts that I have read tend to include releasing mature birds in the spring in dense cover in pairs (http://www.kentuckyhunting.net/forums/showthread.php?340-Stocking-quail).  With the environmental factors around my area, increased forestation and both predation by coyotes and hawks and competition for food sources from swelling deer populations (less farming, agricultural pest management, and hunting), creating a sustainable population from released birds seems less to do with released birds than a broader ecosystem issue.