What Quail Need and How to Give It to Them

EDITOR'S NOTE: Researchers have found that you can have more quail on your property without that much effort.

When you manage for quail, remember that quail move all day looking for food. However, having quail on your property requires other components, including providing brood and nesting habitat.

Dr. Bill Palmer of Tall Timbers Research Station in Tallahassee, Florida, comments that, "brood habitat can be ragweeds and partridge peas. Nesting cover may be grasses and one or two years' growth of vegetation -- dead grasses from the previous season. These plants allow quail to move within one patch all day long without coming to an edge where hawks, owls, snakes, foxes, raccoons and/or bobcats may find them." If your previous year's greenfield planting of small grains for deer has grown-up in weeds, this spot will make ideal habitat for quail. In a 1-year-old, 5- to 10-acre greenfield, quail can stay in that patch all day with less vulnerability to predators and have most of their daily needs met. With just a little planning, a few dollars and a small amount of your time, you can create more habitat for quail on your hunting lands and have plenty of birds to hunt each season.

Tomorrow: Other Ways to Have More Quail