When blizzards hit, what do birds do? How do they survive when the temperatures fall and snow starts to pile up? We talked with Dwayne Elmore, Game Bird Program Director at Tall Timbers about how bobwhite quail weather the storm and what landowners can do to make sure their local populations make it through to the spring.

Q: What kind of weather can quail tolerate?

A: Quail aren't a highly cold adapted species, so their northern range is limited by harsh winters. That being said, it's not just specific temperature ranges that affect what weather they can withstand. How much fat they have in reserve, the amount of pressure they experience, duration and timing of extreme weather, and available habitat all influence their ability to survive cold snaps.

Whenever quail experience extreme cold or heat, they need more energy to maintain their body temperature and stay alive. In the case of cold, they're losing heat and they have strategies to compensate, including huddling together for warmth, hiding in thick shrubby cover and even sunning.

They mitigate this loss of body heat by either taking cover or increasing their caloric intake. This becomes a problem when cold temps coincide with heavy snowfall. Snow and ice not only makes them lose heat faster, it locks up their access to food. In these conditions they will hunker down, sometimes for a couple of days before they leave cover to try and forage. While they can dig in the snow for feed, that takes more calories and exposes them to potential predation.

Q: How long can quail survive in such conditions?

A: If quail are stuck in a storm for a couple of days they burn through their fat reserves. If they emerge and most of the food isn't available, this spells trouble.

The timing of these storms often matters more than the severity of the storm itself. The farther we get into winter, the harder it is for quail to weather storms. The same intensity storm early in the fall or winter has less effect than the late winter. In early fall their food sources are more abundant and often still on the plant. In late winter, the food has fallen to the ground, been eaten, decomposed, or may be inaccessible due to snow or ice.

For example, researchers have documented single storm events in February where we lost >15% of the total population in a 2-3 day period. Late winter is a difficult time to be a quail.

Q: Are bobwhites in different regions affect differently? In other words, are bobwhite in their northern range more cold tolerant than bobwhite found in the southeast?

A: To some degree bobwhite in northern latitudes are larger. This may help them tolerate cold weather slightly better than their southern counterparts. This is called Bergmann's rule. In colder climates, natural selection favors larger individuals of the species because increased body mass per surface area means better heat retention. While these groups of northern bobwhite do have some advantage, they are still not highly adapted to colder climates and their range is limited by the severity of the winter. One way we can mitigate for this is by providing quality habitat.

Q: What can you do to help quail weather the storm?

A: To start, quail need low, dense woody cover that is immediately adjacent to a significant food source. Maintaining that mosaic of food and cover is key to helping quail. If you can't throw a softball between areas of dense shrub/bramble cover, then you do not have enough escape cover.

Dense plum, sumac, blackberry, and dogwood thickets are great in the winter. This cover protects them from avian predators and gives them cover from wind and snow. Ragweed, partridge pea, desmodium (beggar's lice), small acorns, and sumac berries are key winter food sources. Species such as ragweed and desmodium will often come up by simply disking or burning. Since they are already in the seed bank, they are just waiting for the right conditions to come up. They may not be people's favorite plants, but they are outstanding food sources for quail.

Having food sources throughout the property right next to good quality shrub cover significantly increases the odds that quail will survive the winter. If you choose toplant strips of grains such as milo as a supplemental food source, be sure it is near cover.

Q: What about feeders? Will scattering additional seed help quail?

A: From the current data, there is no evidence that stationary feeders like people typically use for deer benefits quail. It may actually have a detrimental effect because it concentrates them and it may expose them to more predation. However, distributing grain along feed trails where the feed is thrown into cover and is available across the property, can increase overwinter survival when good cover exists. If supplemental feeding is done, a landowner should be in conversation with their local fish and game agency to ensure they aren't violating baiting laws.

Q: Do you need to provide quail surface water when everything else is frozen?

A: Quail can get water from their feed. They don't need surface water to survive.

Q: Am I hurting quail populations by hunting during severe weather events?

A: There's no doubt that if hunters push bobwhite from cover during these large storm events, they are at more risk for predation, they are burning more calories, and they are losing body heat. One of the fundamental things we're trying to accomplish is to reducing exposure time for feeding. This is when they are most vulnerable. Letting them stay down, stay warm and avoid predation is better for the long-term stability of your local population. If you're in an area with high population density and the birds are in good condition, hunting after an early season storm that's short in duration may not have an effect. The longer the winter gets and the worse their condition however, the more that hunting pressure could negatively affect the birds.

On public land this is especially tricky because you don't know who else is hunting, how often they've been there, ect. On private lands, managed lands, we recommend not to harvest more than 15-20% of the population. This includes birds wounded but not recovered. Note: for every 2 birds brought to the bag, another was likely wounded and lost. Keeping harvest low and pressure low with good habitat throughout the season will help carry over more birds for the spring breeding population. A good rule of thumb, whether on private or public land is to exercise restraint, especially in terms of total harvest. At the end of the day, we want to see sustainable quail populations and if that means regulating our pressure and harvest, it's worth it.

Takeaways

When the weather gets bad, it's a great time to let the birds rest. While easing up hunting pressure helps bobwhite survive late winter, the best thing landowners and hunters can do is invest in creating quality habitat. Creating woody shrub cover right next to abundant food gives bobwhite the best odds of making it to spring. The preparation for winter is a year-round project, both for conservationists and bobwhite.