QF One the Landscapte in Arizona
By Gerry Berthelette, AZG & FD Biologist
For the past seven years, the Arizona Game and Fish Department has been collaborating with quail enthusiasts, including members of the local Quail Forever chapters in southern Arizona, to gauge productivity of quail populations across treated and untreated landscapes in the Bonita grasslands just south of Safford, Arizona and in the shadow of the Mt. Graham sky island.
This year was the second year of surveying since a brief COVID hiatus in 2020. The surveys are set up in such a way that any volunteer with an experienced bird dog is allowed to participate. The idea is to gain an understanding of how “detectable” the birds are, and whether land treatment applications, such as large-scale mesquite grubbing, may or may not affect the occurrence of quail on the landscape. Treatments have been ongoing in the Bonita grasslands for nearly 10 years. Each year, funding is sought through the Game and Fish Department and external sources to continue revitalizing the grasslands in Bonita with the goal of restoring them to a more amenable landscape for native wildlife, including scaled quail and Gambel’s quail.
Bird enthusiasts have participated in this event each year from all over the state. Hunters, biologists, and volunteers arrive the night before to eat some BBQ, let their dogs sniff out the new area, share hunting stories around a campfire, and even indulge in the occasional adult beverage. This year was no different. With a slightly lower number of volunteers (most of the annual regulars were out hunting quail… go figure!), we were still able to get the job done. After an early night, the sound of quail was too much to resist the next morning.
Everyone broke up into teams before daylight, usually consisting of a dog handler and a dog (or two), and someone to record data. Once every team had their assigned routes to survey, we set off into the grasslands to look for quail. The survey routes are 1-mile long in one direction, followed by a 90-degree turn plus a ¼-mile, and another mile back in the other direction, totaling 2.25-2.5 miles per transect.
After a couple years conducting these surveys, an odd trend presented itself to the surveyors and biologists: the dogs seemed to have an uncanny ability to sniff out not only quail, but the local box turtles on the landscape as well. Due to this surprise revelation, survey protocol was adjusted to include the abundance of box turtles found in addition to any quail that were identified.
While there is still research to be done on whether or not the treatments being applied have an affect on quail occurrence, and whether or not the elapsed time since treatment has any similar affect, biologists continue to assess habitat with on-the-ground vegetation measurements that will ultimately aid in predictability of quail occurrence in a given habitat. Over the 7 years conducting this survey, we’ve located roughly 193 scaled quail, 136 Gambel’s quail, and 45 box turtles. It’s no easy feat, so all the participants are greatly appreciated. In all, we’ve had help from about 88 volunteers walking 88 dogs across 96 miles of transects!
If you’re ever in southern Arizona in October, when the temperatures are dropping and the quail are calling, the local Quail Forever chapters in the region would love to invite you to a fun event where quail enthusiasts and local biologists are putting boots on the ground and science into action. It’s imperative to not only build a community around conservation with like-minded folks, but it helps build the knowledge base for such a diverse state with unique wildlife and dedicated outdoor enthusiasts, to manage the flora and fauna in a way that benefits everyone.
This story originally appeared in the 2023 Winter Issue of the Quail Forever Journal. If you enjoyed it and would like to be the first to read more great upland content like this, become a Quail Forever member today!