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Post by Jake on Jan 23, 2020 8:35:58 GMT -6
Wanting to make a concerted effort to increase the quality of our upland bird habitat. Going to kill out some brome waterways and seed back native grass. Anybody have much experience on getting native grass stands to take hold quickly? Or will it be a slow process no matter what?
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Post by brightraven on Jan 23, 2020 8:51:02 GMT -6
Just a question. What happened to Bobwhite Quail? They were abundant in the 60s.
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Post by hughespieds on Jan 23, 2020 9:08:03 GMT -6
Just a question. What happened to Bobwhite Quail? They were abundant in the 60s. Around here they are blaming the Bermuda grass, fire ants and increase in predators. |
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Post by okie on Jan 23, 2020 10:07:08 GMT -6
I believe that the use of chicken litter as fertilizer has a lot to do with the decline. I have a steady population here at the home place but none of my neighbors spread litter. At the ranch property that I owned I don't remember ever seeing more than a single bird or two but there were broiler barns all around and everyone in the area littered.
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Post by M-5 on Jan 23, 2020 15:01:42 GMT -6
Fire ants, Fox's, coons , coyotes are main cause . Habitat is other cause. I remember hunting over broom sage fields and pines growing up. Now the pines are planted to harvest straw and farming has reduced the buffer zones.
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Post by tcranch on Jan 23, 2020 17:26:26 GMT -6
Quail have been coming back the past few years. Not a lot by any means but quite a few in the south pasture, which is primarily native/prairie with Johnson grass around the perimeter. There are also a few coveys in the west pasture, also prairie - at least until we move the weaned calves over there. Brome field is restricted but part of the west pasture and the neighbor directly west is all Bermuda. Fertilizer is straight from the Co-Op so no chicken litter. I've seen one pheasant in 10 years.
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Post by Jake on Jan 24, 2020 8:36:21 GMT -6
Just a question. What happened to Bobwhite Quail? They were abundant in the 60s. 60-70" of snow last winter followed by poor nesting conditions due to continued wetness. Populations have been pretty good the past few years and if you get just a little south of us there are a lot of quail yet. Habitat changes have worsened both the quail and pheasant numbers from the glory days. We have more/bigger trees, lots of cedar and less CRP. Clean farming isn't a big help either as mowing and killing weeds just lowers the habitat quality. |
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Post by bulltrader on Jan 24, 2020 9:16:45 GMT -6
Burning small areas help as does having some warm season grass areas.
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Post by brightraven on Jan 24, 2020 9:19:06 GMT -6
Just a question. What happened to Bobwhite Quail? They were abundant in the 60s. 60-70" of snow last winter followed by poor nesting conditions due to continued wetness. Populations have been pretty good the past few years and if you get just a little south of us there are a lot of quail yet. Habitat changes have worsened both the quail and pheasant numbers from the glory days. We have more/bigger trees, lots of cedar and less CRP. Clean farming isn't a big help either as mowing and killing weeds just lowers the habitat quality. Thanks. Yes. I suspect habitat loss here is the culprit. |
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Post by Jake on Jan 24, 2020 9:23:54 GMT -6
60-70" of snow last winter followed by poor nesting conditions due to continued wetness. Populations have been pretty good the past few years and if you get just a little south of us there are a lot of quail yet. Habitat changes have worsened both the quail and pheasant numbers from the glory days. We have more/bigger trees, lots of cedar and less CRP. Clean farming isn't a big help either as mowing and killing weeds just lowers the habitat quality. Thanks. Yes. I suspect habitat loss here is the culprit. Fescue is an upland bird killer. Thick turf isn't very conducive to raising a brood. Add in people mowing it and you're just wrecking nests and chicks. |
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Post by brightraven on Jan 24, 2020 9:26:45 GMT -6
Thanks. Yes. I suspect habitat loss here is the culprit. Fescue is an upland bird killer. Thick turf isn't very conducive to raising a brood. Add in people mowing it and you're just wrecking nests and chicks. Yes. I know my mowing pasture is tough on the small wildlife. |
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Post by greybeard on Jan 24, 2020 12:28:27 GMT -6
Fire ants and coyotes here. Weed spraying probably hasn't helped either. Not very many doves either since I manage the goat weed now.
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Post by simangking on Jan 24, 2020 13:55:48 GMT -6
If you want to see an increase of quail, get rid of your bush hog, grow more milo, and foxtail, and kill all non-clump type grasses.
Got a 20 acre patch of milo surrounded by brush that me and the dog ran 30 wild quail out of. Anyone I tell that too says it's not possible, but they also mow, and clear any brush they can, and spray all of the foxtail.
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Post by randy on Jan 25, 2020 6:20:19 GMT -6
Thanks. Yes. I suspect habitat loss here is the culprit. Fescue is an upland bird killer. Thick turf isn't very conducive to raising a brood. Add in people mowing it and you're just wrecking nests and chicks. That may not be quite true Jake. Fescue has long been thought of as a quail disaster, but that is changing in some areas. |
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Post by the illustrious potentate on Jan 25, 2020 22:24:57 GMT -6
What kind of native grass do you have Jake?
If you can grow blue stem, that sure seemed to produce a lot of birds back when we had them. As a side note, there's a coating on it that protects the protein in the grass for cattle through late in the winter if left undisturbed.
Native around here is what I've heard termed buffalo grass. The improved grasses outside of bermuda produce better quail here.
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