Start a sustained breeding population loose in neighborhood

[Ntsees]

In addition to what others have said, I have 2 things for you to also consider:

(1) In case you are not aware, the natural distribution of Mountain quail ranges from Washington south to Baja California, and scientists have divided up the Mountain quail populations into multiple subspecies based on differences in their feather/plumage characteristics. In the mountainous areas around Portland, Oregon, the Mountain quail subspecies is likely Oreortyx pictus palmeri. The males of the palmeri subspecies differ from males of the other subspecies in that they tend to have a lot of brown on their shoulders (the difference is similar to how the Florida panther is unique from other mountain lions in the U.S.); males of the other subspecies tend to have blue-gray on the shoulders. In the bird breeding hobby, people did not keep the subspecies separate (i.e. mentality of always trying to incorporate new bloodlines into their stock) and so birds of the hobby are a mixture of multiple subspecies. So, you will have to ask yourself whether or not you want to preserve the uniqueness of the palmeri subspecies found naturally in your area. Perhaps you may ask your Fish and Wildlife agency to see if you may try to propagate your local Mountain quail subspecies instead of using/releasing birds from the hobby?

(2) Mountain quail of the hobby are unfit to survive in the wild. Whether you are releasing adults or have a foster bird parent raise the young to adults in your yard, the many years and decades of domestication have caused Mountain quail of the hobby to be inferior (i.e. less alert and slower reaction time) compared to the wild Mountain quail. You would be feeding the predators if you are releasing birds. The wild Mountain quail, with all their fitness, alertness, and quickness, still fall prey to predators but are able to hang on with their populations.

 

[Jory]

(3) There is no longer the habitat they need on the Oregon side.
In Lewis and Clark's time the dams were not built and the riparian areas were not flooded.

There's actually a lot more to the license than what I'm seeing here. The state police can and will show up to count your birds whenever. All birds must be tagged and because they are a sensitive species in Oregon you may have to have a federal permit as well as the state one.

 

[raingarden]

There have been a century of attempts to replenish and introduce quail populations all over the country. All have been failures. Even put-and-take quail stocking programs don't work very well. Effective habitat management and predator control seems to be the stumbling block. Things like planting Bicolor Lespedeza seems to work better than stocking more quail.

I've tried getting quail to free range while staying close enough for feeding and protection. They always disappear within a week.

 

[Feathercrazie]

Are there any native quails left in your area? Or are they totally gone?

In both cases, do you know why there aren't more quails living by you right now? Was the land destroyed and the quails disappeared, then the land was improved but the quails didn't come back? Or is there currently no clean water source, heavy spraying of chemicals that impact egg shell strength, not enough secluded areas for them to breed, etc? You can always just toss them out there and see if they can survive. Your project might have more success though if you've identified what the barriers were for the quails, and those barriers are either gone now, or you have ideas to work around them. There is always a reason why the quails aren't currently there, and if you have identified that reason you will have a better chance of setting up a population.

When you say neighborhood, what is your neighborhood like? Is this a suburb, a small group of rural homes, etc?

What size and kind of natural area is available for the population? The quails are unlikely to nest and breed if they are being chased by local dogs out on walks all the time...

I'd be real tempted to get a strictly free range bantam chicken hen from a farm nearby and have her raise your first few batches of quail chicks outside in a natural environment. She'll have a lot better survival skills and will teach them to find food and water and stay away from many dangers. I would expect those chicks to have a better survival rate upon becoming adults. (There are disease risks to this approach that must be managed, however I'd assume at least one person in your release area has chickens, so it's nothing the quails can avoid risking anyway).

You might find benefit by researching raising pheasants for release if you haven't yet. At least by me that is much more common. Usually it's with the goal of building up a population for hunting, but the principles, population numbers, and how they raise and handle the birds should be equally applicable to your quails.

It's better for the population if you can get birds from several different sources for genetic diversity, and keep a highly diverse breeding group. This is probably more important than the size of the breeding group that you maintain at your house. A slightly smaller group of more diverse quail has better odds of establishing a healthy wild population than a larger group of more inbred ones.

Be prepared for some other side effects. You likely will see increases in predator activity, including human nuisances like raccoons.

I would start with a few relatively small groups of eggs (like 3 batches of 20 or something, spaced out over a couple months). This will let you work out the kinks in your system.

I would imagine you could raise and release a few hundred a year for the first few years after that? Spitballing here, gut number. Predator loss will be very high in the birds you release. As an example, I would talk to people that free-range chickens and let their hens hatch and raise chicks. Two of my neighbors do this, and maybe 20% of their chicks survive the first year (and that's with a mother and flock, which is different for quail). Those that do survive tend to live a longer time though.

one of the reasons there are not as many bobwhite quail in my area (South Arkansas) is the presence of fire ants. They will circle the hens nest with their tunnels until the eggs start hatching then they will kill the newly hatched chicks and sometimes the hen also.

 

[Ssw]

Thank you everyone! I can’t believe the amount of thoughtful responses I received. This is a very nice online community you have built. I will keep everyone updated as I research and speak with other wildlife organizations in the area. I’ll be sure to post pictures too.

I've really enjoyed reading all the responses. I live in WA and we used to have a strong native flock. The last few joined my mom's range chickens until it finally died out. I, too, have been wanting to re-establish the wild flock. There is still over 20 acres of protected wetland habitat near my mom's acreage, but, I, too wanted to know how many birds to start with. Thanks for your post.